Jan. 27, 2012

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- After a 7-0 victory in its season opener last weekend, the Navy women's tennis team returns to the court this weekend for a pair of matches at the Tose Family Tennis Center at the Brigade Sports Complex. The Mids will face Saint Joseph's on Saturday morning at 8:00 am, then take on Delaware State on Sunday at 12:00 pm.

Navy enters the weekend with a 1-0 record after disposing of Saint Francis (Pa.) last weekend, 7-0. The Midshipmen won all six of their singles matches and two-of-three doubles matches to earn the sweep. Navy was victorious by allowing just 17 games won in the six singles matches by Saint Francis, including wins by freshmen Gabby Winter (Orlando, Fla.) and Abby Shewalter (Winchester, Mass.) in their first career dual-meet action.

"We got off to a good start last weekend and we want to build off that," said Navy head coach Keith Puryear, who is 36-14 in his fourth year at Navy. "We are always looking to improve and this weekend gives us two good chances to get better. We are expecting good tests from both teams and will be challenged in both duals. We just want to keep taking steps to get better and keep working towards our goals."

Navy will likely roll out its same lineup that it used last weekend, with sophomore Darien Sears (Silver Spring, Md.) holding down the No. 1 spot. Sears owns a career record of 28-17 and is 1-0 at No. 1 singles this year. Junior Emani Decquir (Sacramento, Calif.) owns the school record for singles victories with 35 and is 1-0 this season at No. 2 singles.

Junior Stefanie Ton (Milpitas, Calif.) will play the No. 3 position and owns a 32-27 career singles record, including a 1-0 mark this year. She was a second-team All-Patriot League selection a year ago.

Sophomore Erin Snook (Tampa, Fla.) is 29-16 during her career and won last weekend at No. 4 singles by a 6-0, 6-0 margin. Snook and Sears tied for the school record a year ago with 24 singles victories each.

Winter and Shewalter performed well in their first career dual-meet action last weekend, allowing their opponent to win just one game each.

In doubles play, Decquir and Ton will team up at No. 1 doubles, Noelle Kaufmann (Westlake, Ohio) and Snook compete at No. 2 doubles and Sears and Shewalter played at No. 3 last weekend.

Both Saint Joseph's and Delaware State will be competing in their first action of the spring.

"Saint Joseph's has always been a strong team, and Delaware State has a new coach and a new energy among them," said Puryear. "They will provide stiff challenges this weekend."

# GO NAVY #