FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Fairfield University men's tennis team will host Hartford on Friday, February 7 before traveling to New Haven, Conn. to compete against Yale on Saturday, February 8. The match against the Hawks is set for 8pm at the Stamford Indoor Tennis Club in Stamford, Conn. while the match against the Bulldogs is set for 4pm at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center.
 
Fairfield vs. Hartford: Friday's match will be the first dual the Stags and Hawks have played against one another since last season's match on April 18. In that match, Fairfield defeated Hartford, 5-2, at the Hartford Tennis Courts in Hartford, Conn. The Stags and the Hawks have already met this season at the Quinnipiac Invitational on October 4-6. Fairfield's Bjorn Merinder fell to Hartford's Alex Holdstein, 6-1, 4-6, 10-6. At the Connecticut State Championships on October 25-27, senior Reece Breault was edged by Morgan White, 6-1, 3-6, 1-0. Freshman Peter Colliard also fell to White, 6-3, 6-2. The Stags turned it around when Dennis Zlobinsky defeated the Hawk's Juan Molina, 6-0, 6-2. In doubles, Fairfield pair Ofir Solomon/Zlobinsky pulled out an 8-4 win over Hartford's Sharwarko/White. 
           
Fairfield vs. Yale: Saturday's match will be the first dual the Stags and Bulldogs have played against one another since last season's match on January 27. In that match, Fairfield dropped, 9-0, to Yale in New Haven, Conn. The Stags also faced the Bulldogs earlier this season at the Connecticut State Championships on October 25-27. Stags duo Ian Tesmond/Cameron Amyot defeated Yale's Hagermoser/Faierman, 8-6, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the duo edged the Bulldogs' Svenning/Krumholz, 8-7, to advance to the finals where they fell to Yale's duo Lu/Photiades, 8-5. In singles play, Solomon edged Tommy Ratchford, 6-2, 6-2, in the round of 32. In the round of 16, Solomon beat the Bulldogs' Photos Photiades, 6-1, 6-3, before falling in the quarterfinals to Yale's Zach Krumholz, 6-4, 6-3. Tesmond fell to the Bulldogs' Tyler Lu, 6-3, 6-5, while Zlobinsky was clipped 6-4, 6-3, by Yale's Martin Svenning.      
 
A Look at the Hawks: Hartford is 2-4 on the season. The Hawks have picked up victories over Siena and St. Francis Brooklyn. In their fall season, Hartford competed in three tournaments including the UConn Invite, Quinnipiac Invitational, and the Connecticut Championships. The Hawks are coming off a 7-0 loss to Boston College on February 1.  
 
A Look at the Bulldogs: Yale is 1-2 on the season. The Bulldogs have picked up a win over Davidson. In their fall season, Yale competed in five tournaments including the Princeton-Farnsworth Invitational, Ivy Plus Invitational, West Point Fall Quad, ITA Regionals, and the Connecticut State Championships. The Bulldogs will be tested at home against Georgetown before competing against the Stags. 
 
Last Time Out: Fairfield fell to NJIT, 6-1, on January 31 at the Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility in Newark, N.J. At No. 1 doubles, Amyot/Tesmond defeated NJIT duo Erik Artursson/Andres Alban, 6-4. At the second spot, Solomon and Zlobinsky were edged by Holger Norregaard and Markus Schultz, 6-5(5). The Stags' point of the day came at No. 6 singles where Amyot edged Carl Jedlinski, 8-7(5). At No. 1 singles, Tesmond fell to NJIT's Schultz, 6-4, 6-4. In the two spot, George Tioutine was edged by the Highlanders' Norregaard, 6-5(3), 3-6, 6-1. Solomon battled but ultimately fell, 6-5(7), 6-5(3), to Alban in the No. 3 spot. Zlobinsky fell to NJIT's Artursson, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 4 singles while R.J. Mirabile fell 8-2 to the Highlanders' Arnaud Holl in the five spot.
 
Looking Ahead: Fairfield (3-1) returns to action on February 22, when the Stags host Fairleigh Dickinson at the Stamford Indoor at 7pm.