FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason University women's tennis team heads east to historic Annapolis for the Navy Blue & Gold tournament this weekend.
 
The Patriots will compete at the Naval Academy Oct. 6-8 against student-athletes from the host Middies, as well as Binghamton, UConn, George Washington, Howard, Maryland, Morgan State, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Towson. The event will feature six singles flights and a trio of doubles flights.
 
Mason will look to continue to develop its strong core of fresh faces, led by freshmen Hannah Yang and Hannah Cianciola.
 
Through three tournaments this season, Yang is a perfect 6-0 in singles play and also has posted a 5-5 mark in doubles. Cianciola, meanwhile, is 6-4 in tournament singles competition and also is an impressive 8-2 in doubles. She has partnered with fellow freshman Brianna Gibbs to form a doubles duo that is 4-0 so far this fall.
 
In addition to the solid contributions from Mason's freshmen, junior Sydney Green is off to a great start in her penultimate season with the Green & Gold. She is 7-2 in singles action and won her first ever 'A' singles flight at the Mt. St. Mary's Invitational Sept. 22-24.
 
Last time out, Mason took part in the Loyola Fed Cup Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Baltimore. The event format was based on the International Fed Cup, the premier team competition in women's tennis. Duos from Loyola (Md.), Lafayette, Mt. St. Mary's and the Patriots combined to play in pods featuring one doubles match and a pair of singles matches. The team with the best record in each pod would move on to the quarterfinals, then semifinals and so on.
 
Mason's dynamic duo of Green and Yang led the way, placing second overall in the field. The team took their opening round matches in a perfect 3-0 sweep. They combined to defeat the Mountaineer team of Barbato and Powell, 6-0, while Green defeated Powell in singles (6-0, 6-2) and Yang upended Barbato (6-2, 6-3).
 
In addition, Gibbs and Cianciola placed fourth overall at the event.
 
After this weekend's event, Mason wraps up its fall tournament schedule with the annual ITA Regional Oct. 12-15 in Blacksburg, Va.