ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Four Midshipmen will make the trip to Virginia Tech this week, as the Navy women's tennis team is set to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Atlantic Regional Championship from Oct. 16-21 at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center in Blacksburg, Va.
 
A collection of five singles players and two doubles teams will represent the Mids at the Atlantic Regional, as action gets underway Thursday with the singles qualifying draw. Competing for Navy in the main singles draw is sophomore Molly Bellia, while junior Olivia Fermo, fellow sophomore Emma Gu and freshman Nicole Fu will look to join Bellia by advancing in the qualifying draw. The pairings of Bellia with Gu and Fermo with Fu will also compete in the main doubles draw for the Mids.
 
Regional Layout
Thursday opens with two rounds of qualifying singles play and qualifying back-draw round, while Friday starts with the round-of-64 for both singles and doubles action … Saturday's slate includes two more rounds of singles play and the doubles round-of-32 in addition to the start of consolation draws, and Sunday will see the singles quarterfinals precede the doubles round-of-16 and doubles quarterfinals … Monday features the semifinal rounds for both singles and doubles play … Action wraps on Tuesday with the doubles finals after the finals and third-place match of the main singles draw … Singles main draw matches will be three full sets, while doubles main draw matches will be 8-game pro sets until the semifinals, with the doubles semifinals and finals being best-of-three sets with a 10-point tiebreak in lieu of a full third set … Qualifying singles matches will have a match tiebreak in lieu of a full third set.
 
The Field
Along with Navy and host Virginia Tech, the ITA Atlantic Regional will feature players from Delaware State, George Mason, George Washington, Georgetown, Howard, James Madison, Liberty, Longwood, Loyola, Marshall, Maryland, Morgan State, Mount St. Mary's, Norfolk State, Old Dominion, Richmond, Towson, VCU, Virginia, West Virginia and William & Mary.
 
Last Time Out
With Fu pacing the squad at a 2-0 singles mark on the weekend, Navy posted a 10-8 singles record Friday through Sunday in the 2025 Commander-in-Chief's Challenge in Arlington, Va. … Facing competition from fellow service academies Army and Air Force as well as regional rival Georgetown, the Mids used four singles victories on Sunday to cap off the 10-8 singles weekend, while Navy finished with a 3-6 doubles record over the three-day event.
 
ITA Regional History
This will be the second ITA Regional appearance for Fermo, while this week marks the ITA Regional debuts for Bellia, Gu and Fu … The 2024 ITA Regionals in Charlottesville saw Sylvia Eklund advance out of the qualifying draw to join Emily Tannenbaum in the main draw, while Tannenbaum played her way into the singles round-of-16 for the second-straight year and partnered with Fermo to reach the doubles round-of-16, earning a matchup with the preseason No. 3 doubles pairing … A program-record seven Navy players travelled to the 2023 ITA Regionals at Liberty, highlighted by Tannenbaum becoming the first player in program history to reach the Round-of-16 in singles play with a pair of wins, while Sia Chaudry and Samantha Johns advanced to the second round of doubles competition … With four Mids making the trek to the 2022 ITA Atlantic Regional at Virginia Tech, Tannenbaum and Casey Accola both went 2-1 in singles as the duo also split their two doubles matches, while Chaudry and Stella Ribaudo also won their opening qualifying matches before losing the next two … The 2021 ITA Atlantic Regional was hosted by the Mids at the Brigade Sports Complex, with Tannenbaum and going 3-0 in the singles main draw to earn a spot at the ITA Super Regionals, while Ribaudo also found success in singles competition with a pair of wins before falling in the round-of-32.
 
Up Next
Navy will send representatives to the Patriot League's ITA Conference Masters qualifying tournament, set for Oct. 24-26 in Bethlehem, Pa.