The Fairfield men’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 finished the regular season with an overall record of 12-8, and a conference mark of 5-1, which will place them as the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
Fairfield will face third seeded Niagara University at 2PM on Saturday afternoon at Mercer County Park, a familiar road to the Championship match from last season. The two teams last faced one another on April 13 when the Stags came out on top with a 5-2 decision as sophomore Cameron Amyot clinched the match.
The team’s consistency in doubles has allowed them to capture the momentum of the match. The Stags have yet to drop a doubles point to their opponents in conference play, going 15-3 in those matches. Undefeated duos for Fairfield include Ian Tesmond/Amyot and George Tioutine/Erik Kremheller. Leading the Stags in singles play are freshman Ofir Solomon with 19 total wins and sophomore Tioutine, who currently holds a five match win streak and is undefeated in the MAAC.
Last season, Fairfield captured their first MAAC Championship title since the 1998 season and their first ever NCAA berth sending them to Los Angeles, Calif. to face No. 1 seed, USC, in the first round.
The one seed for the 2013 MAAC Championship tournament will be Marist College who finished undefeated in the MAAC and 17-4 overall. The Red Foxes will face fourth seeded Loyola Maryland (3-3, 11-6) also at 2PM at Mercer County Park on Saturday. The winners of the two semifinal matches will face one another in the Championship on Sunday at 2PM.
