ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (2-0) continues its spring-opening homestand this weekend, playing host to Richmond (0-2) on Friday evening before playing Morgan State (0-1) in a Saturday afternoon match at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
 
Looking to stay undefeated in the dual season, the Midshipmen are set for a 6 p.m. opening serve with the Spiders on Friday, while the Saturday tilt with the Bears is slated for a 12 noon start.
 
Mids in the National Rankings
Navy appeared in the national doubles rankings put out by the ITA at the end of the fall, as sophomores Peyton Amspacher-Philemon and Ji Soo Oh came in as the No. 82 doubles pairing in the ITA's final fall rankings … Amspacher-Philemon and Oh went 6-1 as a pairing this fall … Since the beginning of the 2024-25 season, the duo has posted a 12-3 career doubles record that includes a 6-2 dual-meet mark … This marks the second-straight season the Midshipmen have put a doubles team in the final fall rankings, as December 2024 saw Emily Tannenbaum and Parvathi Shanker rated 51st on the doubles list while the pairing of Tannenbaum alongside Olivia Fermo was slotted at 104th in the same rating list.
 
Scouting the Mids
Leading the team with identical 14-2 singles records are junior Olivia Fermo and freshman Nicole Fu, while sophomore Emma Gu ranks second on the Mids with a 11-5 singles mark … Sophomore Grace Li is a perfect 7-0 on the singles courts … Fermo and Fu have partnered to post a team-leading 11-4 doubles record … Li and freshman Anna Wiskowski have gone 4-0 as a doubles pairing so far … Overall, Fermo has 12 doubles wins this fall.
 
Last Time Out
A balanced lineup in both matches helped Navy to a pair of victories in its spring-opening doubleheader last Saturday, as the Midshipmen kicked off the spring with a 7-0 shutout of St. Bonaventure before pulling out a 5-2 win over Saint Francis … With seven different Mids going a combined 2-0 on the afternoon between singles and doubles play, Navy notched its sixth 2-0 start in the last seven seasons … Navy has started the last three seasons with identical 2-0 records, defeating the Bonnies and Red Flash in spring-opening doubleheaders in each of those seasons.
 
Scouting Richmond
The Spiders opened the spring season with a pair of losses to power-conference opponents, as a 7-0 defeat at No. 14 Virginia last Tuesday was followed by a 6-1 loss to Northwestern on Sunday … In the fall, Sofia Barbulescu and Lara Bakhaya captured the doubles title at the Atlantic 10 Conference Masters Qualifier to earn a spot in the ITA Conference Masters Championship, also reaching the quarterfinals of the ITA Atlantic Regionals … Bakhaya also represented the Spiders in singles play at the ITA All-American Championships during the fall … Richmond went 16-7 last season, going 6-2 in A10 action before falling to VCU in the A10 Championship final, while Bakhaya and Barbulescu earned first-team all-conference honors.
 
Scouting Morgan State
The Bears started the spring with a 7-0 defeat at the hands of West Virginia last Saturday, with MSU forcing third sets on the second and sixth singles courts … Morgan State was picked to finish fifth in the MEAC preseason poll … Despite a 6-18 overall record and a 1-5 MEAC mark, Morgan State pulled out the upset win over Howard in the MEAC quarterfinal before falling to N.C. Central in the semifinal round … Julia Jeffrey and Marta Serra Carles were named to the MEAC All-Tournament Team following the season.
 
Series Histories
Navy holds a 4-7 record in the all-time series with Richmond, as the Spiders have taken the last three meetings with Mids … Navy is 4-2 at home all-time against Richmond, but the last match between the teams in Annapolis was a 4-3 Spiders win on March 28, 2021 … Navy has posted an 11-0 all-time record over Morgan State, with all 11 matches coming in Annapolis … The Mids tallied a 7-0 victory over the Bears last season on March 1.
 
Up Next
Navy will head to South Bend, Ind., next weekend, facing host Notre Dame on Saturday, Jan. 31 before playing Ball State in a Feb. 1 neutral-site match.