ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (23-5) continues its postseason run on Friday afternoon, as the Midshipmen face No. 20-ranked UCF (20-4) in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament in Raleigh, N.C.
 
Making their second NCAA appearance in three years after winning the 2026 Patriot League Championship, the Mids will face off with the Big 12 Conference runner-up Knights in a 2:00 p.m. match at N.C. State's J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
 
The other first-round match in Raleigh features No. 8 national seed N.C. State (22-7) playing Morgan State (13-7) at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The winners of the two first-round matches will play Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the second round.
 
Back on Top of the League
Navy rookie Nicole Fu claimed a third-set tiebreaker to deliver Navy a gritty 4-2 victory over top-seeded Boston University in the championship match of the 2026 Patriot League Tournament on April 19 in South Williamsport, Pa., propelling the No. 2-seed Mids to their second league title in program history … Earning its second Patriot League crown in three years, the Mids' victory over the Terriers also extended their winning streak to seven matches and gave them wins in 18 of their last 19 contests … In doubles play, sophomore Peyton Amspacher-Philemon and junior Anna Jordaan completing their 6-1 win over the No. 2 BU pairing while sophomore Grace Li and junior Julia Lee then held on for a 6-3 win on the No. 3 court to clinch the doubles point … Amspacher-Philemon then posted a straight-set singles win at No. 5 while freshman Anna Wiskowski (No. 6) and Fu (No. 2) both battled back from first-set losses to defeat their opponents and help seal the Navy victory … For her championship-securing efforts, Fu was named the 2026 John "Pat" Rooney Award winner, presented to the Patriot League Championship MVP.
 
Fu Named PL Rookie of the Year, Navy Earns Coaching Staff of the Year
Navy earned a pair of major awards last Friday, as freshman Nicole Fu was named the 2026 Patriot League Rookie of the Year while head coach Keith Puryear's staff was selected as the league's 2026 Coaching Staff of the Year … The Mids also garnered three all-league accolades as Fu and sophomore Emma Gu were picked to the All-Patriot League First Team and sophomore Grace Li received a nod to the All-Patriot League Second Team … Fu becomes the second player in program history to claim Patriot League Rookie of the Year, joining Emily Tannenbaum in 2022, while the All-Patriot League honors also mark the first for Fu, Gu and Li in their careers … Joined by associate head coach Alessandra Pedergnana and assistant coach Matt Lennox in receiving the award this season, this is Puryear's third Patriot League Coach/Coaching Staff of the Year accolade and his 12th overall conference coach-of-the-year honor in his storied career.
 
Scouting the Mids
Leading the team with a 28-7 overall singles record is freshman Nicole Fu, while sophomore Emma Gu ranks second on the team with a 25-12 singles record and fellow sophomore Peyton Amspacher-Philemon holds a 23-3 singles mark this season … Amspacher-Philemon has a team-high 18-1 dual singles mark while fellow sophomore Grace Li has a 16-5 dual singles record this spring … Fermo and Fu have partnered to post a team-leading 17-14 doubles record … Junior Anna Jordaan and sophomore Peyton Amspacher-Philemon have notched a 12-7 doubles mark together, including a 9-4 record as the No. 2 pairing … Overall, Amspacher-Philemon has a team-best 19 doubles wins … 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 then-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 then posted a career-best 14-match singles win streak, which now marks the second-longest singles win streak in program history … Amspacher-Philemon enters the NCAA Tournament on a seven-match singles winning streak while freshman Anna Wiskowski enters Friday on a six-match singles win streak.

NCAA Tournament History
Navy's first NCAA Tournament appearance saw the Mids hold their own in a 4-0 loss to No. 4 North Carolina on May 3, 2024 ... Navy was able to earn points on each of the three doubles and six singles courts … Highlighting the first-round showdown was freshman Anna Jordaan claiming the first set in her unfinished No. 6 singles match against Tatum Evans … The match against the Tar Heels marked the fourth different ranked opponent the Mids faced that season.
 
Scouting UCF
The Knights arrive in Raleigh with a 20-4 overall mark, having gone 11-2 in Big 12 play to earn a share of the regular-season title … UCF reached the Big 12 Championship match after tallying 4-2 wins over No. 37 BYU and No. 26 Arizona in the conference tournament, eventually falling to No. 23 TCU by a 4-1 score in the finals … Jantje Tilbuerger, Marina Gatell and Olivia Bergler were all named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team.
 
Scouting N.C. State
The Wolfpack went 22-7 overall and 10-2 in conference play, earning the 3-seed in the ACC Tournament … Then-13th-ranked N.C. State took down No. 21 California, No. 6 North Carolina and No. 7 Virginia en route to the 2026 ACC Championship, marking the second ACC title in program history … The Wolfpack will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the 10th-consecutive season and are looking for their seventh-straight Sweet 16 appearance … Simon Earnshaw was named ACC Coach of the Year … Mia Slama earned First Team All-ACC singles honors, Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe collected First Team All-ACC Doubles recognition, Anna Zyryanova was named to the All-ACC Second Team in singles and Broadfoot added a Third Team singles selection.
 
Scouting Morgan State
The Bears are 15-7 this season with a 5-1 MEAC mark … Earning the top seed in the MEAC Tournament, Morgan State beat N.C. Central in the semifinals before holding on for a 4-3 championship win over Norfolk State, clinching the program's third MEAC tournament title … Michaela Stephens and Amira Bargaoui were named to the All-MEAC First Team, while sophomore Tyler Williams was named to the All-MEAC Second Team.
 
Series History
Navy and UCF will meet for the first time in their programs' histories on Friday … A potential match with host N.C. State on Saturday would also mark the first all-time meeting between those programs … Navy is 12-0 all-time against Morgan State, including a 6-1 victory over the Bears on Jan. 24 … That Navy-Morgan State match this spring saw the Mids hold on against an energized Bears squad to claim the doubles point, while Peyton Amspacher-Philemon started what turned into five-straight wins for Navy on the singles courts to lock up the Mids' victory.