Both the Fairfield University men’s and women’s tennis teams took on Mount St. Mary’s University at home on Sunday, April 2. It was a special day for the Stags as it was Senior Day, where the Fairfield seniors were recognized for their great contributions to the men’s and women’s tennis programs and the campus community during their collegiate tenures. Both teams looked to capitalize on the positive energy in their first home appearance of the season at the Walsh Athletic Center courts to come away with victories.
The Stags did not disappoint, as the men’s team swept Mount St. Mary’s, 7-0. This victory puts the men’s program at 1-1 in conference play for the year. The team performed well in both doubles and singles matches on the day, coming away with a win in doubles play as well as in all singles matches. Graduate Student Tolunay Sumer and Jonathon Olive-Blanco ‘23 dominated in topflight doubles with a 6-2 win to start the day, and the win was secured with a 6-4 victory in the number 3 contest led by Graduate Student Kaya Gore and Alex Aguiar ‘26. The Stags did not give up a single set in singles matches with strong performances by Sam Hodges ‘25, Keean Shah ‘24 and Griffin Schlesinger ‘23. Olive-Blanco, Sumer and Gore all had resounding victories as well to round out the team’s clean sweep on the day.
“It was good for the men to put in a gritty performance and get back in the win column,” said Head Coach Jeff Bricker according to the game’s official recap. “We are banged up, but if we keep pushing, we will get to where we want to get. Now to get some rest before Siena on Tuesday!”
The women’s team also had a great performance, in which they won the day 6-1 over their opponents. The women’s team now stands at 2-0 on the season in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Conference play. The team mirrored the men in doubles play with Francesca Karman ‘23 and Graduate Student Lize-Alet Morkel coming away victorious with a 6-2 win in the first match of the day. Laina Campos ’23 and Lucie Tuttle ‘25 won the third match 6-2 as well to secure the doubles victory for Fairfield. Katarina Plumtree ‘24 highlighted the singles matches for the Stags, as she won a resounding victory with 6-0 and 6-3 wins. Seniors Karman and Campos would also get singles victories on the day, a fitting result for the occasion.
“It’s great to get a win on Senior Day!” said coach Bricker after the match according to the game’s official recap. “Laina and Francesca have been big parts of our program for the past 4 years—it’s great to get a win for them today. Overall it was a good team effort to get to 2-0 in the MAAC.”
The teams were supposed to face off with Sienna at home on Saturday to start the weekend, but those matches got rescheduled for April 4. The men’s team plays their next match against Niagara University in Lewiston, N.Y. this Saturday where they will look to come away with another conference victory. The women’s team will face off with the red foxes of Marist College today at 3 p.m. before joining the men’s team on the road on Saturday.
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