WEST WINDSOR, N.J.-In a match that truly befitted a conference final, the second-seeded Fairfield University women's tennis team fell to the top-seeded Quinnipiac University Bobcats, 4-3, in Sunday Battle Royale in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Final held at the Mercer County Park Tennis Center in New Jersey.  With Sunday's result, the Stags close out the 2025 season with an 8-14; while Quinnipiac earns the MAAC's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division 1 Women's Tennis Championship with a 12-8 mark.

Fairfield got off to a good start in this year's MAAC Women's Tennis Championship Final, as the Stags won the doubles point behind victories at number one by the tandem of Maria Gell and Victoria Mandma (6-3) and the point-clincher at number three by the duo of Lily Malinowski and Anna Neyestani (6-2).

In singles action, a win by Neyestani at number two, 6-2, 6-2, and a 6-3, 6-0 victory by Maeve Cassidy at number six gave Fairfield a 3-1 advantage, as they sandwiched those victories between a QU win at number five.

The Bobcats would tie the match at 3-3 with a straight-sets win at number three and a three-set victory at number four meaning the match would be decided at number one singles between the Stags' Victoria Mandma and Quinnipiac's Willow Renton, who earlier this week was named both the conference's Player and Rookie of the Year.

Sunday's deciding match at number one did not lack excitement as both players showed why they are two of the conference's top competitors, as the match went the full three sets.

Madama took the opening frame in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5), but Renton came back to win the next two sets and give the Bobcats the conference title by scores of 2-6 and 4-6.  The third and deciding set was a back-and-forth affair with Madama trailing 2-4 before she ran off four straight games to deadlock the set at 4-4 before her opponent captured the final two games to take the set.