ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Continuing its seven-match homestand with a Friday matinee and Saturday doubleheader, the Navy women's tennis team (7-7) will also look to extend its two-match winning streak this weekend when the Midshipmen host Long Beach State (5-2), Georgetown (5-4) and Morgan State (0-3) at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
 
The Mids will welcome LBSU on its east-coast swing at 1 p.m. Friday, while Navy is set for a 10 a.m. match with Georgetown on Saturday morning before facing Morgan State at 2 p.m. later that day.
 
Last Time Out
One day after suffering a 7-0 loss to Wake Forest, Navy responded with pair of wins by knocking off Towson, 5-2, and George Mason, 7-0, last Saturday … Despite not recording a team point, Navy did see its No. 1 pairing of senior Emily Tannenbaum and sophomore Olivia Fermo hold a 5-3 lead over the Demon Deacons when doubles play was halted … After the Mids swept doubles action against Towson, senior Parvathi Shanker, freshmen Molly Bellia and Grace Li and sophomore Manci Pal all notched singles victories while senior Sylvia Eklund and rookie Emma Gu both fell just short in third-set battles … While tiebreakers were needed on the top two courts against George Mason, Navy once again swept doubles play before Li, senior Kate Lee, Gu, Fermo and rookies Peyton Amspacher-Philemon and Ji Soo Oh all posted straight-set victories.
 
Puryear Achieves Navy Milestone
With the doubleheader sweep to start the spring, head coach Keith Puryear reached the 300-win mark for his Navy tenure … Compiling a 305-108 (.739) record through 17 seasons at the helm of the Mids, Puryear has also posted a 520-236 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 came in at No. 92 in the latest singles rankings of the spring on Feb. 20.
 
Tannenbaum Rewriting Record Book
Now holding three 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 seven 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 Long Beach State
The Beach arrived on the east coast with a 4-2 overall mark and moved to 5-2 with Thursday morning's 4-1 win at Georgetown … Winning four-straight matches now, Long Beach State started its road swing with a 4-3 win at Loyola Marymount … No. 1 player Dania De Simone paces the team with a 17-5 singles record, including a 5-2 mark this spring, while Thea Jagare has racked up a 15-7 singles mark as well with a 5-2 dual-match record … Cecilia Costa and Johanna Hiesmair won on Thursday to move their doubles record to 7-3, going 5-2 at the No. 1 spot … Head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello is in her 28^th and final year at the helm of the Beach, tallying a 417-198 overall record.
 
Scouting Georgetown
The Hoyas enter Saturday with a 5-4 record after dropping their showdown with LBSU, also going 3-2 in BIG EAST action so far … Last week saw Georgetown pick up a 4-2 home win over conference foe Seton Hall on Friday … Emily Novikov was named the BIG EAST Women's Singles Player of the Week on February 17 … GU went 8-13 last season with a 4-3 conference record, as Novikov took home BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors.
 
Scouting Morgan State
The Bears have gone 0-3 this spring against an imposing slate, falling to West Virginia, St. John's and Maryland … Morgan State was picked fifth in the MEAC preseason coaches poll out of seven teams … The Bears tallied a 6-15 record last year with a 3-3 conference mark, advancing to the MEAC semifinals.
 
Series History
Friday will be the first all-time meeting between Navy and Long Beach State in program history … The Mids are 7-3 against Georgetown all-time, claiming the last four meetings in the series and going 7-1 against the Hoyas in Annapolis … Navy is 10-0 against Morgan State, with all 10 matches occurring in Annapolis.
 
Up Next
Navy will play Florida State next Saturday, with opening serve set for 10 a.m. in Annapolis.