The women’s tennis team alleviated Fairfield University of its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title drought last Sunday at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. as they dropped Niagara 4-3 in the championship match.
It has been three years since a MAAC tournament trophy has been placed in the display case in Fairfield’s athletic center. The last team to take home a MAAC title was women’s volleyball in the fall of 2001.
The tennis team was seeded third going into the tournament and upset second seeded Marist in the semi-finals and top seeded Niagara in the finals. Niagara was also ranked 70th nationally the week before the tournament. This was the first time in the history of the tournament that non-top seeded teams won the men’s and women’s championships.
After eight long hours due to rain delays, the Stags triumphed as sophomore Meghan Stauffer’s No. 5 singles victory broke the 3-3 tie. Stauffer was the lone Stag playing on the court while the rest of her team watched from a small window above the court. Niagara’s Kendra Daigler hit the final ball long, giving Stauffer the third set win, 6-2, and Fairfield the title.
“We couldn’t get to the court fast enough,” said co-captain Erin Reeves ’04. The team sprinted down the flight of stairs after witnessing the dramatic match conclude and rushed the court in celebration.
“I was immediately overwhelmed,” said coach Jeffery T. Wyshner. This was his third trip to the finals in his coaching career, once with Manhattan in 2001 and once with Fairfield in 2002, but his first time winning. Wyshner was also named MAAC coach of the year.
Fairfield led the match from the beginning as they swept the doubles point. All three doubles matches ended 8-6. Diana Webb was shut out at the No. 1 single’s match 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Taylor Barvoets took home a clutch No. 2 single’s victory, 6-3, 6-1, over Niagara’s Miriam Al-Shikarchy. Al-Shikarchy, a junior, hadn’t lost a league match in her entire college career.
Reeves dropped her No. 4 singles as did fellow classmate Annie Mullowney. Andrea Suriano, however, was the standout senior of the entire weekend. She won all six of her tournament matches including her comeback championship victory, 7-1, 1-6, 6-4, at the No. 3 singles slot.
“99 out of100 times, momentum wise, Andrea was not supposed to win that match,” said Wyshner in reference to her 1-6 second set loss. Suriano’s gave Fairfield a 3-2 lead with Mullowney and Stauffer still playing.
The match gave Fairfield it’s sixth MAAC championship title for women’s tennis. Fairfield tennis dominated the MAAC in the 90s, as it won in ’92,’93,’95, ’96 and ’97.
“This is a return to the top for Fairfield tennis,” said Wyshner. “This year was a culmination of three years of hard work. We don’t have the stud of foreign players or the scholarship money, so we have to work hard.”
Fairfield earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and will find out the opponent on Wednesday, May 5.
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