ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (10-3) will try to extend its home winning streak this weekend, as the Midshipmen are set to host No. 60 Liberty on Friday afternoon before playing a Saturday doubleheader against Drexel and FDU.
Navy and the 60th-ranked Flames open the weekend with a 1 p.m. match on Friday, as the Mids look to avenge last year's loss in Lynchburg. Saturday kicks off with Navy facing the Dragons at 10 a.m. and ends with the Mids and Knights squaring off at 4 p.m.
Last Time Out
The Mids went 1-1 last weekend, dropping a 5-2 contest at West Virginia on Saturday but coming back home Sunday to earn a hard-fought 4-3 win against Dartmouth and remain undefeated at home this spring … The match with the Mountaineers saw junior
Emily Tannenbaum and senior
Samantha Johns claim singles wins on the top two courts, while Navy's No. 2 doubles team of juniors
Kate Lee and
Parvathi Shanker were on pace to win their match when it was abandoned at 5-3 … Tannenbaum partnered with freshman
Olivia Fermo to grab the No. 1 doubles match against Dartmouth, while Johns and rookie
Anna Jordaan did the same in the No. 3 spot to help Navy secure Sunday's doubles point … With five of the six singles matches going three sets against Dartmouth, Navy pulled out the victory thanks to wins from Tannnenbaum, Johns and junior
Sylvia Eklund.
Tannenbaum Earns Patriot League Weekly Honors
Going 3-1 overall on the weekend and 2-0 in singles play, Tannenbaum was named the Patriot League Player of the Week on Tuesday … Earning the honor for the second time this season and the fifth time in her career, Tannenbaum's singles victories against WVU and Dartmouth extended her singles winning streak to 11 matches.
Tannenbaum Shooting up the Record Book
Sporting a 9-0 singles record this spring, Tannenbaum ranks fourth in program history with 77 career singles wins, needing one more victory to catch Darien Sears for third in the record book … Tannenbaum is also now fourth in the Navy record books with 135 career combined victories, needing one more win in either singles or doubles play to catch Sears' 136 combined wins that sit third.
Puryear Reaches Milestone, Nears Another
With the wins over Coppin State and Towson, Navy head coach
Keith Puryear reached 200 home victories during his time in Annapolis, now sporting an impressive 201-44 home record with the Mids … Additionally, Puryear stands at 499 women's dual wins between his time at UMBC and Navy, needing one more victory to reach the 500-win plateau as a women's head coach … Puryear currently has 727 career victories between his 19 seasons at UMBC as both the men's and women's coach and his 16 years at Navy.
Scouting Liberty
The Flames fell from a program-record No. 54 to No. 60 in the latest team rankings from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association … Holding a 5-3 overall mark, Liberty has lost its last two matches, as a win over VCU two weeks ago was followed by defeats to Harvard and Furman in the ensuing days … Liberty returns all four of its All-ASUN selections from last season, as Maria Juliana Parra Romero was named to the league's first team, while Esther Lovato and Marina Davtyan earned second-team all-conference distinction and Tiffany nguyen garnered All-ASUN Third Team honors.
Scouting Drexel
Dropping out of the ITA ranking this week after appearing at No. 66 last week, Drexel enters Saturday with a 5-1 record … The Dragons had its 4-0 start halted with a loss to LIU on Feb. 17, but Drexel rebounded with a sweep on Norfolk State last Sunday … Lorie Lemongo and Renata Lombera both return after earning conference honors last season, as Lemongo was named to the conference's first team and Lombera was selected to the third team, while the duo also earned Second Team All-CAA Doubles distinction.
Scouting FDU
The Knights enter the weekend with a 2-2 record (2-0 in NEC play) and are coming off a 7-0 sweep of Binghamton, as FDU will play conference foe Wagner on Friday before making the trip to Annapolis … Katsiaryna Kostsina was named the NEC Rookie of the Month on Thursday, posting a perfect 6-0 record in singles and doubles matches during February … The Knights return the 2023 NEC Rookie of the Year in Anastasia Lim.
Series Histories
Navy is 0-3 in the all-time series with Liberty, losing last season's match in Lynchburg by a 5-2 score on Feb. 25, 2023 … The Mids are 5-0 against Drexel all-time, with all five matches coming in Annapolis and the last meeting being a 5-2 Navy win on March 5, 2022 … Navy also holds an all-time record of 4-0 against FDU, with the last edition of the series being a 7-0 Navy victory on Feb. 27, 2022.
Up Next
Navy wraps up the homestand on Thursday, March 7 with a 2 p.m. match against Georgetown.
