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 going after third conference title in four years

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.” 

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 the team’s 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 to 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 US 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.