ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (2-0) heads out for its first road trip of the spring this weekend, traveling to Richmond, Va., for a pair of non-conference matches. Taking on VCU (1-1) in an 11 a.m. contest Saturday at the Thalhimer Tennis Center, the Midshipmen will then trek crosstown Sunday for an 1:30 p.m. battle against Richmond (0-1) at the Raintree Swim and Racquet Club.
Navy will look to improve to 4-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season, as the Mids will face the Rams for the first time in program history and seek to end a two-match skid against the Spiders.
Last Time Out
The Mids cruised to a 2-0 start to the spring with a pair of wins last Saturday, defeating St. Bonaventure, 6-1, in the morning session before turning around for a 7-0 victory over Saint Francis in the afternoon … Winning its 10th-straight meeting against the Bonnies, Navy swept doubles action before
Sylvia Eklund led the way in the No. 1 singles spot with a two-set victory over Cirkeline Lundberg, while
Emma Gu,
Anna Jordaan,
Olivia Fermo and
Julia Lee all picked up singles wins as well … In the nightcap, the Mids once again went 3-0 on the doubles courts and
Emily Tannenbaum won by retirement to start singles play, while
Parvathi Shanker,
Grace Li,
Manci Pal,
Molly Bellia and
Peyton Amspacher-Philemon won down the lineup as well.
Puryear Achieves Navy Milestone
With the doubleheader sweep last Saturday, head coach
Keith Puryear reached the 300-win mark for his Navy tenure … Compiling a 300-101 (.748) record through 17 seasons at the helm of the Mids, Puryear has also posted a 515-229 mark as a women's coach between his time at UMBC and Navy … His 513 victories ranked 20th among Division I women's coaches all-time and 10th among active women's coaches at the DI level entering the spring season.
Mids in the National Rankings
Navy was well-represented in the national singles and doubles rankings put out by the ITA at the end of the fall, appearing three times … Slotted at No. 87 in the singles rankings was senior
Emily Tannenbaum, with the Midshipmen having two doubles teams ranked as well … Tannenbaum and fellow senior
Parvathi Shanker rated 51st on the doubles list, while the pairing of Tannenbaum alongside sophomore
Olivia Fermo was slotted at 104th in the same rating list.
Tannenbaum Rewriting Record Book
Now holding two more spots in the Navy record book after setting the program records for career singles, doubles and combined wins during the Milwaukee Tennis Classic, Tannenbaum holds a total of six school records … Last spring, the then-junior set the program record for single-season singles wins (33) and career No. 1 singles victories (37) while also resetting a pair of program single-season records she had previously set, tallying 18 victories at the No. 1 singles spot and registering 55 combined wins over the course of the campaign.
Scouting VCU
The Rams opened the spring last weekend with a home split, falling 5-2 to Appalachian State on Friday before bouncing back for a 4-2 Sunday win against Temple … Mariam Ibrahim reached the singles finals of the Atlantic 10 Individual Championships in October … VCU is coming off a 2023-24 campaign that ended with a 14-9 record and 4-0 conference mark before dropping a 4-3 battle to Richmond in the A-10 quarterfinals … A pair of all-conference performers return for the Rams, with All-Atlantic 10 First Teamer Yelizaveta Karlova and Second Team pick Tania Isabel Andrade Sabando both back in the lineup.
Scouting Richmond
The Spiders kicked off the spring with a Friday match at Old Dominion, falling to the Monarchs, 7-0 … Richmond had two doubles pairings earn spots in the ITA's final fall national rankings, as Sofia Maria Barbulescu and Elizabeth Novak ranked No. 105 while Lucy Webber and Lainey O'Neil checked in at No. 116 … Barbulescu reached the quarterfinal round of the ITA Conference Masters singles draw after claiming the A-10 qualifying tournament title over VCU's Ibrahim … The Spiders posted an 11-11 overall mark last year, going 4-4 in A-10 action and reaching the conference championship match, losing a 4-2 contest against UMass … Andrea Campodonico returns after claiming All-Atlantic 10 First Team honors last May.
Series Histories
Navy and VCU will play for the first time in program history … The Mids are 4-6 in the all-time series with Richmond, going 0-4 on the road against the Spiders … The Mids' last win over Richmond was a 6-1 victory on Jan. 26, 2020 in Annapolis.
Up Next
Navy starts next weekend on the road, heading to Liberty for a 10 a.m. match on Feb. 1 before coming home to host George Washington on Feb. 2 at 11 a.m.
