BOSTON – Seeking its fifth NCAA berth in eight years, the top-seeded Boston University will open the Patriot League tournament against No. 8 Lafayette on Friday morning with action slated to begin at 8:30 a.m. from Fluegel-Moore Tennis Stadium in Annapolis.

All matches of the tournament are currently scheduled to be played outdoors at the Fluegel-Moore Tennis Stadium. Fans will be allowed to attend matches played outdoors, but if weather pushes competition indoors, fans are not permitted.

The Terriers (7-1, 3-0 PL) enter the event on a six-match win streak with 7-0 sweeps against Rhode Island, Bryant, Holy Cross and Merrimack. They opened conference play with a 4-3 win over two-time defending champion Army West Point and then concluded the regular season with a 6-1 victory over tourney host Navy. The Black Knights enter the event as the No. 2 seed with the Midshipmen at No. 3. The bracket also includes No. 4 Lehigh, No. 5 Bucknell, No. 6 Colgate and No. 7 Loyola Maryland.

Freshman Victoria Carlsten will enter the tournament as the reigning PL Player of the Week after she collected a straight-set singes win in the No. 1 slot against Navy. She's currently 3-3 on the year with classmate Kaitlin Tan owning a perfect combined 5-0 record at lines 2 and 3. Seniors Emily Kim and Lily Burchell have combined for a 12-3 record across the lineup. Sophomore Erica Di Battista owns a 4-1 record at lines 1-3, while senior Katya Martens is 2-0 at both lines 4 and 5. Junior Shelly Yaloz has made four appearances as well, earning a combined 2-2 record in the No. 3 and 6 slots.

On the doubles end, BU has utilized 11 different groupings during the shortened regular season. Kim and Burchell went 2-0 in conference play at line 1 and finished with a 3-2 record, while Di Battista and Carlsten teamed for a 3-1 record in the No. 2 slot. Tan proved her ability to adapt, earning an impressive 7-1 combined record with four different partners. She won both matches at No. 3 alongside Yaloz against Army and Navy.

The Terriers will face Lafayette for the first time since eliminating the Leopards in the 2019 PL Quarterfinals, 4-0. That year, BU reached the final with a 4-0 semifinal victory over Bucknell before dropping a hard-fought 4-3 decision to Army.

The Leopards enter the matchup at 4-6 (1-4 PL) after earning a 4-0 victory over Holy Cross in the opening round of the tournament.