ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 3-seed Navy women's tennis team (16-11, 4-2 PL) is set to open play at the 2025 Patriot League Championship this weekend, facing off with sixth-seeded Loyola (13-5, 3-5 PL) in the league quarterfinals Friday afternoon. Opening serve of the quarterfinal match is slated for 1:15 p.m. at the J.W. Abrahamson Tennis Courts in Hamilton, N.Y.
 
The four-day league tournament gets started with a first-round match between Lafayette and Holy Cross on Thursday, while Friday's four quarterfinal contests will be followed by the semifinals on Saturday and Sunday's championship match. The winner between the Midshipmen and Greyhounds will face off against the winner of the No. 2 Boston/No. 7 Colgate quarterfinal showdown, with that semifinal meeting set for 2 p.m. and Sunday's league final scheduled for 12 noon.
 
In the case of inclement weather, the championship will be moved indoors to Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse, N.Y.
 
Navy at the Patriot League Championship
The Mids are seeking the second league title in program history this weekend after winning the championship last season … Advancing to the semifinal-or-better every year since debuting at the Patriot League's tournament in 2010, Navy has reached the league finals eight times in those 14 PL Championships … Navy has previously earned the league's No. 3 in 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021, going a combined 7-5 in those five tournaments … The Mids are 3-2 in league tournament matches hosted by Colgate … Last year's Patriot League Championship saw the No. 2 Mids notch capture the Patriot League crown on its home courts in Annapolis, posting 4-0 win over Bucknell in the quarterfinal round before outlasting Army, 4-3, in the semifinals and upsetting Boston by another 4-3 score in the championship match, with Tournament MVP Kate Lee securing the championship-clinching point.
 
Recapping the Regular Season
Navy enters the postseason with a 16-11 overall mark and 4-2 league record, notching four Patriot League wins for the fourth-straight season and the 12th time in the program's 15 years in the league … The fall was highlighted by seniors Emily Tannenbaum and Parvathi Shanker claiming the doubles title at the Patriot League's qualifying tournament for the ITA Conference Masters Championship and Tannenbaum earning the singles title at the same tournament, with the duo then heading to the Conference Masters event and falling just two wins shy of advancing to the NCAA Doubles Championship … The spring had the Mids suffer a slow start, but Navy has gone 14-6 since a 4-2 rivalry win over Air Force on Feb. 15, including posting a 6-1 record in the month of March … Starting league play with three victories, the Mids then suffered a loss at rival Army before responding with a 7-0 win at Loyola and nearly upsetting Boston in a 4-3 defeat on Senior Day two Saturdays ago … Tannenbaum paces the team with 32 overall singles wins and 17 dual-match singles victories, while freshman Emma Gu is second on the Mids with 20 singles wins overall and 13 dual-match singles victories … Tannenbaum and sophomore Olivia Fermo hold a team-best 14 doubles wins, going 8-2 in the spring, while senior Kate Lee and sophomore Julia Lee have teamed up to post a 9-2 doubles record in the spring.
 
Last Time Out
The Mids picked up two wins over the final week of the regular season, scoring a 6-1 Tuesday win at Saint Joseph's before coming home to defeat Howard, 7-0, last Friday … Against the Hawks, the Mids put themselves in front early by sweeping the three doubles matches before notching five straight-set victories in singles action to clinch Navy's sixth road win of the spring … Navy then used a quick start in both doubles and singles action against the Bison to secure its second-straight victory heading into the Patriot League Tournament … Emily Tannenbaum has won 11-straight singles matches while Kate Lee has posted seven-straight singles wins entering the postseason … Kate Lee and Julia Lee have won their last six matches as a doubles pairing as well.
 
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. 124 in the April 8 singles rankings.
 
Tannenbaum Rewriting Record Book
Now holding five more spots in the Navy record book after setting the program records for career singles, doubles and combined wins, career No. 1 doubles wins and single-season doubles wins this season, Tannenbaum holds a total of nine school records … Tannenbaum also reset her own program record by reaching 57 combined single-season wins via her doubles and singles victories against Howard to close the regular-season slate … 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.
 
Puryear Achieves Navy Milestone
With a doubleheader sweep to start the spring slate, head coach Keith Puryear reached the 300-win mark for his Navy tenure … Compiling a 314-112 (.737) record through 17 seasons at the helm of the Mids, Puryear has also posted a 529-239 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.
 
Scouting Loyola
The Greyhounds have tallied a 13-5 record on the season, going undefeated in non-conference action and registering a 3-5 Patriot League mark … Loyola is 3-2 in its last five matches, tallying 4-3 road wins at Towson and league foe Colgate before suffering losses to Navy and Boston, but ended the regular season with a 4-3 victory over Morgan State … Elena Hartley paces the team in singles wins at 12-10, while Christine Richiez leads Loyola in doubles play with a 15-9 record.
 
Series History
Navy holds a 17-0 edge over Loyola in the all-time series … The Mids are 3-0 against the Greyhounds in postseason meetings, with the most recent tournament meeting being a 4-0 Navy win in the 2023 quarterfinals … This season's regular-season meeting between the in-state foes saw Navy score a 7-0 victory in Baltimore on April 9, winning all three doubles matches before sweeping the six singles courts as well.
 
Up Next
The Patriot League Champion will receive the league's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA DI Women's Tennis Team Championship, with first-round action slated for May 2-3.