ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Members of the Navy tennis teams will compete in the ITA Patriot League Masters Qualifier being held this weekend at Lehigh's Ulrich Varsity Tennis Courts and Lewis Indoor Tennis Center in Bethlehem, Pa.

Links to live results from the event, which runs Friday through Sunday, can be found at NavySports.com.

Each NCAA Division I conference with an automatic qualifier berth will hold tournaments to advance one singles player and one doubles team from each gender to compete in the ITA Conference Masters Championship being contested Nov. 6-9 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.  The results from that tournament will be used to qualify four singles players (all semifinalists) and three doubles teams (champion, runner-up, third place team) for the NCAA Championship for individuals.  The national championship for individuals will be played Nov. 18-23 in Lake Nona, Fla.  

This is the second year of a two-year pilot program in which the individual championship is played in the fall.  The 2026 NCAA Championship for teams will be held in its traditional place in the calendar year at the end of the spring season.

Navy's men's entrants are J.J. Etterbeek and Herrick Legaspi in both singles and doubles, while the women's team will send Molly Bellia and Emma Gu to compete in singles along with the doubles tandem of Olivia Fermo and Nicole Fu.

Men's Preview
Etterbeek also competed in singles at last year's inaugural playing of the event.  He lost in the Round of 16 in singles –– as did fellow Mid Aniketh Ayinala –– and did not participate in doubles.  The Navy doubles team of Jason Kim and Nathan Nguyen won its quarterfinal round match and lost in the semifinal round of the 2024 edition of the tournament.

Etterbeek and George Cutone share the team lead this fall with seven singles wins, while Etterbeek has a slight lead in winning percentage as he has posted a 7-2 record to currently edge Cutone's mark of 7-3.  Legaspi heads to the Lehigh Valley with a 4-4 record in singles and the same record in doubles.  Etterbeek has matched Legaspi's .500 winning percentage in doubles with his record of 5-5.

The two have played one match as a doubles team this fall, losing a 6-1 decision to Washington's Rohan Belday and Daniel Bien at the San Diego Veterans Tennis Classic.

Both players have received a bye in the first round of singles (round of 32) and doubles (round of 16).  Legapsi received the No. 2 seed in the singles draw and will face the winner of the first round match between Loyola's Ryan Gill and Lafayette's Darrin Lerner in the second round.  Meanwhile, Etterbeek also received a first-round bye and is slated to play Army's Matias Feoli in the round of 16.

The pair also is the second seed in the doubles draw.  Already placed in the quarterfinals, the Mids will play the Holy Cross duo of Matthew Carlson and Patrick Ling.

Women's Preview
The Navy women are coming off a strong showing at the ITA Atlantic Regionals last week in Blacksburg, Va., highlighted by a pair of program firsts.  Opening the event by having Fermo, Gu and Fu each win two qualifying matches to join Bellia in Friday's singles main draw, the quartet marked the first time in program history Navy put four players into the main singles flight.  On the doubles side, Fermo and Fu partnered for three-straight wins in the main draw to reach the doubles quarterfinals, becoming the first Navy pairing to reach the regional's quarterfinal round.  

The fall season has also seen Fermo named the San Diego Veterans Tennis Classic MVP after an impressive 4-1 combined record at that event, while Bellia and Gu combined to go 4-4 at the 2025 Milwaukee Tennis Classic.  

Last year's ITA Patriot League Masters had Emily Tannenbaum come out on top of the singles bracket and also partner with Parvathi Shanker to take home the doubles automatic bid.  Tannenbaum and Shanker then ripped off two wins at the 2024 ITA Conference Masters Championship to reach the doubles quarterfinals before losing, falling two victories shy of an NCAA Championship berth.

Bellia and Gu have each received a bye into the round of 16.  There, Bellia is scheduled to play Colgate's Amelia Galin while Gu will square off against Lafayette's Hanna Ganchi.  Navy's doubles team of Fermo and Fu received a round of 16 bye and will play the Bucknell pairing of Riley Jennings and Abigail Platt in the quarterfinals.

Schedule
Friday
Noon - Round of 32 Singles / Round of 16 Singles
3 p.m. - Round of 16 Doubles / Quarterfinal Doubles
 
Saturday
10 a.m. - Quarterfinal Singles
12:30 p.m. - Semifinal Singles / Semifinal Doubles
 
Sunday
10 a.m. - Singles Finals
Noon - Singles Finals


Men's Singles Draw
Round of 32
J.J. Etterbeek - BYE ... Herrick Legaspi - BYE
Round of 16
J.J. Etterbeek vs. Matias Feoli (Army) ... Herrick Legaspi vs. winner of the R32 match between Ryan Gill (Loyola) and Darrin Lerner (Lafayette)

Men's Doubles Draw
Round of 16
Etterbeek / Legaspi - BYE
Round of 8 (quarterfinals)
Etterbeek / Legaspi vs. Matthew Carlson / Patrick Ling (Holy Cross)

Women's Singles Draw
Round of 32
Mary Bellia - BYE ... Emma Gu - BYE
Round of 16
Mary Bellia vs. Amelia Galin (Colgate) ... Emma Gu vs. Hanna Ganchi (Lafayette)

Women's Doubles Draw
Round of 16
Fermo / Fu - BYE
Round of 8 (quarterfinals)
Fermo / Fu vs. Riley Jennings / Abigail Platt (Buckell)