WEST WINDSOR, N.J.-The top-seeded Fairfield University men's tennis team saw its stellar 2024 season come to a close on Sunday afternoon with a hard-fought 4-2 loss against the second-seeded Quinnipiac University Bobcats in the finals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship at the being played at the Mercer County Park Tennis Center in West Windsor, New Jersey.  The Stags wrapped up the season with an impressive 14-9 record; winners of 11 of their last 12 matches.

As they did in every conference match during the 2024 regular season and postseason, Fairfield jumped out to a fast start in Sunday's final by winning the doubles point on the strength of victories at number three from to duo of Luca Benaibbouche and Kostas Kollias (6-4), and the number pairing of Nick Condos and Will O'Brien (6-2).

Singles play in the MAAC Final was a true battle between the conference's two top teams.

Thomas Smart notched a win for Fairfield in the number one flight defeating his opponent, 6-4, 7-2 (12-10), but the Bobcats earned the match victory with four tight triumphs in the number three through six slots with two of those wins coming in three sets and one coming in a second set tiebreaker.

Head coach Jeff Bricker praised the Stags' season-long effort saying, "Obviously it's not the result we wanted, but all year we preached pushing through adversity and leaving it all on the court. We did that today. Unfortunately we came up a little short. It doesn't diminish what we accomplished going undefeated at home and winning the regular season MAAC title. We have a lot to be proud of, and we will continue to build on our successes and learn from our losses. I'm going to miss our seniors and grad students, but they've help set a high culture standard for our men's program and we will keep pushing forward."