SETTING THE TABLE
Fairfield University men's tennis returns to action Saturday, playing the second of two straight home matches when they host Merrimack. First serve between the Stags and the Warriors is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. With inclement weather expected in the area the match will be held at the Tennis Club of Trumbull.
SCOUTING THE STAGS
Fairfield enters Saturday at 4-4 on the year looking for back-to-back wins for the first time this season. The Stags last played on Sunday, a shutout win over Wagner that saw three different players score their 10th singles win of the year.
Kaya Gore, who holds the second longest-active win streak on the team was amongst the trio, improving to 10-3 with his last victory, which was also his third win in the top flight this season. Sam Hodges its at 10-6 on the year, earning wins at multiple seeds throughout the spring, and Charlie Morkel is 10-9 with three wins in matches at either the No. 1 or No. 2 positions.
In doubles play Keean Shah and Jonathan Olive-Blanco have earned six wins together, the most on the team, ahead of Andrew Immink and Will O'Brien who have teamed up for five, while O'Brien has amassed the most doubles wins overall with 10, followed by Shah and Hodges with nine apiece.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Merrimack enters play winners of two of their last three over Sacred Heart and Mount St. Mary's (MD), but fell in their most recent match against Long Island University Sunday. Jan Semerak and Jonathan Garcia enter play having won their last three matches together in doubles play, with Semerak adding a singles' win to his totals in the loss to the Sharks.
STAGS TABBED SECOND IN MAAC PRESEASON POLL
The MAAC announced the 2022 Preseason Coaches' Poll for men's tennis on Jan. 13, with Fairfield picked to finish second in the conference heading into the Spring campaign. The Stags earned 41 overall votes, finishing behind defending MAAC Champion Monmouth, which was picked to finish first with 49 overall votes and all seven possible first place nods. Quinnipiac followed the Stags with 34 votes, followed by Siena, Marist, Niagara, and Rider to round out the poll.
STAGS SPRING SLATE
The Spring 2022 calendar sees Fairfield play 17 matches overall, beginning with 11 games against non-conference opponents, before a six-game MAAC slate to lead into the conference championships in late April.
The spring kicked off the same way the fall ended, as the Stags opened 2022 with the first of six straight matches on the road, followed up by a doubleheader on Feb. 6 against Bryant and Army West Point. This week takes the team to Pennsylvania to battle Lafayette on Feb. 12, before heading down to North Carolina for a pair of matches UNC Greensboro and UNC Wilmington on Feb. 19 and 20.
The Stags will then make back-to-back appearances as the home team when they return to the Nutmeg state for weekend matches against Wagner (Feb. 27) and Merrimack (Mar. 5). Fairfield then heads back out on the road, taking a trip to South Carolina for three matches the week of spring break against the College of Charleston, Wofford, and South Carolina State.
After a nine-day break following the trip down south, the MAAC portion of the schedule begins with a road meeting at Monmouth on Mar. 26, before returning home to Host Niagara Apr. 3. The Stags will then embark on a brief two-game road trip at Marist (Apr. 7) and Siena (Apr. 9) before back-to-back matches at home against Quinnipiac (Apr. 14) and Rider (Apr. 16) to close the regular season.
The 2022 MAAC tennis championships will be held on Saturday, Apr. 23-24 from the Mercer County Park Tennis Center in West Windsor, N.J.
LOOKING AHEAD
Fairfield men's tennis is back in action Mar. 14 when they take on the College of Charleston in the first of three matches in South Carolina over spring break.
