A Stags Sweep for the Tennis Squads

Berthod

Throughout three-plus seasons, seniors Ryan Berthod and Paulina Rys have respectively led the men’s and women’s tennis squads, forming one of the more dynamic duos to play at Fairfield at one time. On Saturday, Berthod solidified himself in Fairfield’s record books, passing former teammate Chip Palumbo ’09 to earn the Stags all-time wins record (127 victories).

For her part, Rys is already the career wins record for the women, with 135 victories. Fellow senior Dana Postupack has 129 career victories, the second most in school history.
The men’s team (7-5, 3-0 MAAC) defeated Siena, Loyola and Rider, sweeping all three teams 7-0. In addition to Berthod, the men had wins from Dan Sauter, Joe Michalisin, Rob Ferrante, Bob Kelly and Erik Kremheller.

While Berthod’s record should stand for awhile, it might not be long before Michalisin, a sophomore, already has 38 career victories, including a single season record of 27 last year. Kremheller, a freshman, has 17 singles wins this season to lead the team. Berthod and Sauter, also a sophomore, have led the doubles teams with a 12-6 record together.

The women’s squad also won its first three MAAC games, also defeating Siena (7-0), Loyola (5-2) and Rider (7-0). Rys led the way for Fairfield with three victories, while Postupack had two wins.

Rys

Rys is 15-7 this season, while junior Alyssa Ruiz is 15-5. Ruiz has 42 singles wins in her career, which is third all time at Fairfield. Postupack is 10-12, but has played in the first singles position for most of the year. Senior Michaela Cerrone has teamed with Meghan Sullivan for an 8-2 record. Fellow senior Gretchen Amberg is 2-3 in singles, but 5-0 with Postupack in doubles and has 12 total doubles victories.

The women are the defending MAAC Champions and face the toughest test of its season on April 14 at Marist, picked No. 2 in the pre-season poll. The men were picked to finish second in the poll behind Marist and face the Red Foxes on April 13.

Both teams play at home against Saint Peter’s in their next MAAC matchup on April 10.