SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Rookie sensation Nicole Fu claimed a third-set tiebreaker to deliver the Navy women's tennis team (23-5) a gritty 4-2 victory over top-seeded Boston University (10-10) in the championship match of the 2026 Patriot League Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Central PA Tennis Center in South Williamsport, Pa., propelling the No. 2-seed Midshipmen to their second league title in program history.
 
By earning its second Patriot League crown in three years, Navy punched its ticket to next month's NCAA Tournament. The Mids' victory over the Terriers also extends their winning streak to seven matches and gives them wins in 18 of their last 19 contests.
 
Navy grabbed the early lead by building commanding leads in the second and third doubles matches, with sophomore Peyton Amspacher-Philemon and junior Anna Jordaan completing their 6-1 win over the No. 2 pairing of Madison Liu and Blanka DeMicheli to start the run.
 
Sophomore Grace Li and junior Julia Lee then held off Emily Zhao and Rhea Rai, 6-3, on the No. 2 court to clinch the doubles point, as the top flight was left unfinished with the Terriers' Gabriella Mikaul and Jiayi Liu leading 5-4 against junior Olivia Fermo and freshman Nicole Fu.
 
Continuing her dominant singles run this spring, Amspacher-Philemon quickly put the Mids up, 2-0, when she posted a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory against DeMicheli in the No. 5 spot.
 
Boston brought the match even when Mikaul defeated sophomore Emma Gu, 6-1, 6-4, on the top court and Ellie Gyuro tallied a 7-5, 6-4 victory at No. 3 singles that snapped Li's 14-match singles win streak.
 
Another freshman, Anna Wiskowski, regained the lead for Navy when she overcame a first-set loss and fended off a late third-set charge against Zhao, defeating the No. 6 Boston player by a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 score.
 
With sophomore Molly Bellia also battling back at No. 4 to force a third set against Madison Liu and entering a tiebreaker themselves, Fu rose to her championship moment in the second flight against Nancy Liu. The freshman rallied after dropping the first set to take the second frame and then had to fight off a match-point in a back-and-forth third set to force the tiebreaker, with Fu then rolling through the 7-2 tiebreaker to capture the championship-clinching 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) singles win.
 
For her championship-securing efforts, Fu was named the 2026 John "Pat" Rooney Award winner, presented to the Patriot League Championship MVP.
 
Up Next
The 2026 NCAA Tournament Selection Show will air at 4:30 p.m. on April 27, while the NCAA First and Second Rounds are slated for May 1-3.
 
Head Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"Unbelievable fight by the ladies today! We played two nail-biting matches back-to-back against two very worthy opponents in Boston in the final and Army in the semis, and were able to tough it out in both matches. The final had ups and downs, ebbs and flows, but the same thing we showed all season long - our grit, our resilience and our perseverance - was the key to victory today."
 
"Doubles got us started. We had two meetings where we reminded the ladies of what makes us a great doubles-playing team. The coaching staff felt we had gotten away from our principles a bit and just needed to re- emphasize some of our basics. Peyton and AJ played lights out today to get us started, then Julia and Grace rode a break of serve-out to close the doubles."
 
"BU came out hard after losing the doubles point, winning five first sets, but we stayed the course and fought back to get the second set in three of the matches while Peyton rolled to a straight-set win. Molly was in a battle for the third, but it was our two plebes who brought home the victory with Anna and Nicole. We'll now prep for our visit to the NCAA's and be rooting for the Navy men's team to bring one home at their Patriot League tournament next weekend."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 2-15 in the all-time series with Boston.
• Navy moved to 2-3 against Boston in championship matches.
• Navy is now 13-5 all-time as the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament.
• Amspacher-Philemon moved her singles winning streak to seven matches and has now won 20 of her last 21 singles matches.
• Amspacher-Philemon posted a perfect 5-0 combined record in the Patriot League Tournament, winning all three of her singles matches and partnering with Jordaan to win both of their completed doubles matches.
• Wiskowski also won all three of her postseason singles matches.
• Wiskowski extended her singles run to a six-match win streak.
• Fu's 28 singles wins this season moved her into sole possession of fifth in program single-season history.
• Navy improved to 5-1 in neutral-site matches this season.