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04/18/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 04/18/2024 11:40

Women’s Tennis Heads to Annapolis This Weekend for 2024 Patriot League Tournament

Women's Tennis Heads to Annapolis This Weekend for 2024 Patriot League Tournament

The Boston University women's tennis team at photo day 2023. Photo by Jonny Ratner

Athletics

Women's Tennis Heads to Annapolis This Weekend for 2024 Patriot League Tournament

Terriers in search of third conference title in four years

April 18, 2024
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In last year's Patriot League Championship Tournament, the Boston University women's tennis team won every match they played, sweeping the competition and earning their sixth Patriot League title. The Terriers are now looking to double down.

The BU women have played in four consecutive Patriot League championship matches and have won two titles in the last three years. This weekend, they head to Annapolis, Md., where they'll compete in the 2024 Patriot League tournament in search of their seventh conference championship, 28th overall.

The tournament's top seed, BU will begin with the league quarterfinal on Friday, April 19. A win will advance them to the semifinal on Saturday and potentially, their fifth consecutive PL title matchup on Sunday.

Each tournament round will stage nine possible matches. Three doubles matches are played first, with the school that wins two of three clinching the round's first point. Then, a possible six singles matches will be played-each singles match is worth one additional point. The school earning four total points will win the matchday.

"We have such a strong team, with so much depth," says cocaptain Kaitlin Tan (Sargent'24). "Everyone has such a unique playing style that works well for us in singles and doubles, and I think that has contributed well to our chances to repeat as Patriot League champs."

Reigning Patriot League Coach of the Year Lesley Sheehan says her squad's focus on preparing for conference tournament play will be their best bet for repeating as champions.

"They've been competing quite a bit and really working on their fitness and mental conditioning as well," Sheehan says. "So they're ready, that's what I tell them: they're ready now."

Terriers cocaptain Kaitlin Tan (Sargent'24) searches for a rally during the 2023 Patriot League Tournament in West Point, N.Y. Photo by Army-West Point

The Terriers have gone undefeated (5-0) this year in regular-season conference play. Most recently, they swept Lehigh on April 13 and Army-West Point on April 14-an 8-0 weekend to grab another regular-season title.

Tan says she is drawing from her four seasons of Patriot League playoff experience ahead of this weekend's tournament and leaving nothing to chance.

"We lost the Patriot League title to Army in 2022, but we beat them in the regular season, so we know what it's like and are not too overconfident when going into the tournament," Tan says. "We always work on staying relaxed. We never know how the teams improve when we don't play them, so we're just focusing on our games."

Tan has never seen the Terriers finish conference play anywhere but in first place during her tenure at BU. She credits strong leadership for the team's many successes-something she has strived to continue this year as a cocaptain .

"I've seen tremendous leadership from my captains all three years, and I just really wanted to replicate that this year," she says. "We're all six people on the court. Fighting for every point and cheering each other on-those things make the biggest difference."

Tan will play in both singles matches this weekend and compete in doubles with Emily Zhao (Sargent'26), reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year.

Sheehan credits Tan and cocaptain Victoria Carlsten (CAS'24, ENG'24)-BU's first starter and three-time PL Player of the Week-with building a strong team culture and their skill on the court.

"We have two amazing senior captains," the coach says. "Carlsten's playing number one right now and she's had a great year, Tan is playing number three. They've done so well in their four years at BU, not just for singles, but with doubles and just being team leaders. It's going to be really tough to lose them this year."

The tournament winner will earn an automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament, which will be played May 16-25 at Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla. Last year, the Terriers fell 4-0 to Miami University, then ranked No. 14, in the tournament's opening round.

The Boston University women's tennis team will begin play in the 2024 Patriot League Championship Tournament on Friday, April 19, at the U.S. Naval Academy's Fluegel-Moore Tennis Stadium in Annapolis, Md.Live statistics will be posted on goterriers.com, and updates will be posted live via Twitter @BUGameDay and @TerrierWTennis.

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  • Charles Moore (COM'24)

    Charles Moore (COM'24) is pursuing a degree in journalism with a minor in history. He works in the Worcester Red Sox front office and is the Head Delegate for BU's competitive Model United Nations Team. Charles is from Wayland, MA., and has seen a home game of all 30 Major League Baseball teams. He can be reached at [email protected]. Profile

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