The Fairfield women's tennis team is on their way to compete in the 2013 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship Tournament this weekend in West Windsor, N.J. The Stags (6-1, 14-7) earned their berth to the postseason tournament after clinching the regular season title.  This season, they will have to share that title with No. 2 seed Marist College and No. 3 seed Niagara University, who also went 6-1 in conference play.
 
The regular season title is the Stags' eleventh all-time and fifth consecutive title under the tutelage of Head Coach Ed Paige.  Over his seven years with the program, Paige has captured three Championships sending his teams to the NCAA tournament in '08, '09 and '12.  Senior Nikki Jackson has been a member of two of those Championship squads and is looking to capture her third.
 
Fairfield will face fourth seeded Loyola Maryland at 10AM on Saturday morning at Mercer County Park.  The two teams last faced one another on April 8 when the Stags edged the Greyhounds, 4-3, as junior Carolina Koladzyn clinched the match and Sharissa Ryan finished 2-0 on the day.
 
Monica Yajima leads the conference at No. 1 singles, holding a record of 7-0 in that spot while Joana Sun of the Red Foxes is undefeated in the three spot.  Niagara has both Maria Ortiz and Iva Celan who have been consistent for the Purple Eagles going 6-1 and 6-0, respectively.  Rounding out the four teams in the tournament, Loyola Maryland's Tiffany Ash is undefeated in the six spot.
 
No. 2 seed Marist will face third seeded Niagara also at 10AM on Saturday at Mercer County Park.  The winners of the two semifinal matches will face one another in the Championship on Sunday at 10AM.