ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The red-hot No. 2-seed Navy women's tennis team (20-5, 5-1 PL) is set to open play at the 2026 Patriot League Championship this weekend, facing off with seventh-seeded Colgate (7-11, 3-5 PL) in the league quarterfinals Friday afternoon. Opening serve of the quarterfinal match is slated for 3:45 p.m. at the Bucknell Varsity Tennis Courts in Lewisburg Pa.
 
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 Raiders will face off against the winner of the No. 3 Army/No. 6 Bucknell 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 the Central PA Tennis Center in South Williamsport, Pa.
 
Navy at the Patriot League Championship
The Mids are seeking the second league title in program history this weekend after winning the championship two seasons ago … 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 15 PL Championships … Navy has previously earned the league's No. 2 in 2011, 2013, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024, going a combined 10-5 in those six tournaments including going 3-0 en route to the 2024 title … The Mids are 2-2 in league tournament matches hosted by Bucknell … Last year's Patriot League Championship at Colgate saw the No. 3 Mids post a 4-0 win over No. 6 Loyola in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual league champion Boston U. in the semifinals, 4-0.
 
Scouting the Mids
Leading the team with a 26-7 singles record is freshman Nicole Fu, while sophomore Emma Gu ranks second on the team with a 24-11 singles record and fellow sophomore Molly Bellia holds a 22-11 singles mark … sophomore Grace Li has a team-high 15-4 singles record this spring … Fermo and Fu have partnered to post a team-leading 17-13 doubles record … Junior Anna Jordaan and sophomore Peyton Amspacher-Philemon have notched a 10-7 doubles mark together, including a 7-4 record as the No. 2 pairing … Overall, Fermo and Fu a team-best 18 doubles wins apiece … The Mids have now won 15 of their last 16 matches … Navy ended its home slate with a 18-1 record this spring and on a 14-game home winning streak.
 
Streaks A'Plenty
Before being snapped March 28 at Boston U., Navy's 11-match winning streak from Feb. 15 to March 25 marked the fourth longest in program history and the best run since another 11-match win streak from Feb. 8 to March 8, 2020 … While also snapped in Boston, sophomore Peyton Amspacher-Philemon's 13-match singles winning streak from Oct. 10 to March 25 tied her for the second-longest singles win streak in program history and becoming the sixth Navy player all-time to post a 13-match singles win streak … Fellow sophomore Grace Li currently has a career-best 13-match singles win streak, marking the seventh Navy player all-time to post a 13-match singles win streak … Amspacher-Philemon and fellow sophomore Molly Bellia both enter the postseason on four-match singles winning streaks.
 
Last Time Out
The Mids picked up three home wins over the final week of the regular season, scoring a 5-2 win over Patriot League rival Loyola before posting a 4-0 non-conference victory against Howard and closing the regular season by defeating league foe Colgate, 6-1 … Both Molly Bellia and Peyton Amspacher-Philemon posted 3-0 singles records on the week, while classmates Emma Gu and Grace Li compiled 2-0 singles marks and the pairing of Li alongside Julia Lee tallied a 2-0 doubles record … It also completed a perfect 6-0 league singles slate for Li, who went undefeated at the No. 3 spot.
 
Scouting Colgate
The Raiders hit the postseason with a 3-5 league mark, as the final two days of the regular season saw Colgate garner a 5-2 win at Loyola before suffering the 6-1 loss to Navy … Colgate has also picked up league wins over Holy Cross and Lafayette … Rebecca Hess has a team-best 9-6 dual singles record, while Hess and Avery Isaac hold a team-leading 8-3 doubles mark this spring … Colgate finished last season with a 12-11 overall mark and a 3-5 league record.
 
Series History
Navy has gone 11-0 in the all-time series against Colgate … Navy traveled to upstate New York for a 6-1 win over Colgate on March 29 last season … The Mids' victory over the Raiders this past Sunday in Annapolis saw Navy lose the doubles point but then rattled off wins on all six singles courts … The teams' last postseason meeting was a 4-0 win by the Mids at the 2021 league quarterfinals in Annapolis, with third-seeded Navy eventually advancing to the league championship match two days later but falling to Boston.
 
Up Next
The Patriot League Champion will receive the league's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA DI Women's Tennis Team Championship, with first-round action slated for May 1-3.