ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The postseason continues for the Navy women's tennis team (24-6) on Friday evening, as the Midshipmen face No. 4-ranked North Carolina (22-3) in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Chapel Hill, N.C.
 
Making their first NCAA appearance in program history, the Mids will square off with the defending national champion Tar Heels in a 6 p.m. match at the Chewning Tennis Center.
 
The other first round match in Chapel Hill features Wisconsin (18-6) playing William & Mary (18-5) at 3 p.m., with the winners of the two first-round matches playing Saturday, May 4 at 6 p.m. in the second round.
 
Making History
Navy's berth in the NCAA Tournament came off a thrilling three-day stretch two weeks ago that saw the Mids capture their first Patriot League Championship … Just 15 years removed from becoming a varsity program, Navy claimed the league title on April 21 by pulling off marathon 4-3 wins over both rival Army and reigning champion Boston University in consecutive days after a delayed 4-0 victory against Bucknell in the quarterfinals … After junior Parvathi Shanker outlasted the Black Knights' Paige Herremans in a three-hour, three-set singles match on Saturday, her doubles partner and classmate Kate Lee fought off a pair of match points to come back and win a third-set tiebreaker over the Terriers' Emily Zhao on Sunday that handed Navy its first championship … The semifinal victory over the Black Knights also marked the first time in program history that Navy has defeated Army twice in a season … For her performance, Lee was awarded the John "Pat" Rooney Award as the league's Championship MVP.
 
Recapping the Season
Going 24-6 overall, the Mids posted a 4-1 mark in Patriot League by claiming its first four league matches before falling to top-seeded Boston University in the regular season finale on April 6 … With Lee's singles win being the clinching point, Navy took down rival Army in the annual Star Match on March 30 … Navy put together a season-long seven-match winning streak from March 11 against Butler through its March 30 victory against Army, a run that included all four of the Mids' league wins … Junior Emily Tannenbaum paces the team in singles dual wins with an 18-2 singles record in dual action, while senior Samantha Johns is second with a 17-6 singles record this spring … Tannenbaum also leads Navy with a 14-4 doubles record in dual matches, while Lee and Shanker are second on the squad with 13 dual doubles victories.
 
Puryear Reaches Another Milestone
Just weeks after achieving one milestone, head coach Keith Puryear reached another career milestone with the March 2 win over Drexel … After notching his 200th home win with the Mids on Feb. 17, Puryear earned his 500th victory as a women's head coach by defeating Drexel, as he collected 215 wins as the UMBC women's coach and now has 298 victories at Navy … Including his time as UMBC's men's coach, Puryear now has 741 career coaching wins … With two more victories, he will reach the 300-win plateau at Navy.
 
Tannenbaum Chasing Records
Tannenbaum has been near-dominant this spring, posting an 18-2 singles record in dual matches … Already this spring, the junior has set the program record for single-season singles wins (33) and career No. 1 singles victories (37) … The junior also reset a pair of her own program single-season records, tallying 18 victories at the No. 1 singles spot and registering 55 combined wins over the course of the campaign … Now sitting alone at third in program history with 86 career singles wins, Tannenbaum needs three more to catch Amanda Keller for second … Sitting second in program history with 153 career combined wins as well, Tannenbaum needs seven more to catch Keller for first … Ranking fourth in program history with 67 career doubles wins, Tannenbaum needs one more doubles victory to catch Claudia Mackenzie for third in the record books.
 
All-Patriot League Honors Announced
Navy earned a pair of major awards on Tuesday, as Johns and sophomore Sia Chaudry were named the 2024 Patriot League Doubles Team of the Year while head coach Keith Puryear was selected as the league's Coach of the Year … The Mids also garnered three all-league accolades as Johns and Tannenbaum were picked to the All-Patriot League First Team and Chaudry received a nod to the All-Patriot League Second Team … Johns and Chaudry become the first pairing in program history to claim Patriot League Doubles Team of the Year, while Puryear recorded his second Patriot League Coach of the Year award and his 11th overall conference coach-of-the-year honor in his storied career … The All-Patriot League honors mark Tannenbaum's third-straight season earning first-team all-league distinction and Chaudry's second-consecutive year making the all-league second team, while Johns notched all-league laurels for the first time in her career.
 
Scouting North Carolina
After winning the national championship last season, the Tar Heels have continued to roll this spring by winning the ACC Tournament two weeks ago to post a 22-3 record … Winning the NCAA Doubles Championship last year, Fiona Crawley and Carson Tanguilig (13-2) are No. 6 in the latest ITA rankings, while 2023 NCAA Doubles runner-ups Reese Brantmeier and Elizabeth Scotty (22-1) are the top-ranked pairing in the country entering this postseason … Eight UNC players appear in the latest ITA singles rankings, highlighted by the fourth-ranked Brantmeier (20-3), the No. 6-ranked Crawley (16-4), Scotty (14-0) at No. 22 and Anika Yarlagadda (23-8) at No. 31 … Last season saw Crawley named the ITA National Player of the Year, Yarlagadda win the ITA Most Improved Senior Award and North Carolina head coach Brian Kalbas earn Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year.
 
Series History
Navy has previously played North Carolina once before, falling by a 7-0 score to the Tar Heels on March 15, 2016 in Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico … Navy is 0-4 all-time against ACC competition, with the last meeting between Navy and an ACC opponent being a 7-0 loss to Syracuse on March 14, 2017.