Serves up

THE MEN

This spring, Fairfield’s men’s tennis team looks forward to what will hopefully prove to be a successful record after a particularly strong fall season.

“We had very good fall tournament seasons,” said Jeff Wyshner, who is head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams and was named the MAAC Men’s Tennis Coach of the year for the 2004-05 season. “The men won the ECAC [Eastern College Athletic Conference] Open Championships for the first time in team history.”

The men opened their spring season with a 4-3 loss to Boston University on Feb. 2. Their next match, scheduled for Feb. 11 against Holy Cross, was postponed due to inclement weather, so the Stags had their eye on a victory against Hartford Saturday night, when they won a hard-fought 4-3 match. The men’s tri-captains are Steve Kouri ’06, Michael Cuozzo and Jonathan Fernando ’07. Fernando led the team with seven singles victories during the fall, while Kouri had six.

Wyshner noted that one of the men’s team’s greatest facets this season will be the great depth in its line-up.

“In our format,” he said, “number six singles counts the same as number one singles, and while everyone has strong players at the top of the line-up, we are going to have an advantage in the middle and bottom of our line-up.”

While one of the ultimate goals for the season is winning the MAAC championship tournament, Wyshner said that the men’s team “is also targeting the school record in wins [12] which they tied last year.”

The team will have just under 20 matches during which they hope to accomplish this goal.

THE WOMEN

With a 5-1 win over the University of Hartford, the women’s team brought their record for the season to 2-1 on Saturday when they played at Yale’s indoor tennis courts.

“The players really showed that they could win close matches tonight,” Wyshner said.

With the win, Megan Stauffer ’06 notched her third straight win at No. 3 singles. Both she and Alexis Accomando ’07 rallied from behind with the teams tied 1-1 after the first two matches.

Previously this spring, the team lost on the road to Albany and beat Holy Cross in New Haven.

“The women’s team’s biggest strength is having four outstanding seniors to lead the team because they have had a real positive influence on everyone on how to compete and win matches as opposed to just hitting tennis balls for a couple hours,” said Wyshner.

Two of those seniors, Stauffer and Christina Chacharone, are captains this year. In addition to the strengths of more experienced players, the Stags have also found an abundance of talent in their freshmen.

Wyshner said that the “women’s team is also in a great situation because two freshmen [Lauren Bonanno and Gabriela Davila] are playing first and second singles.”

Two years ago, the women made a trip to Washington for NCAA play after winning the MAACs and have been looking for a repeat experience ever since.

“We are always aiming to win the conference championships in both men’s and women’s tennis,” Wyshner said.

“In the last fourteen years, Fairfield has won four men’s and seven women’s MAAC Championships, so we are always a part of the conference’s elite teams.”

LOOKING AHEAD

While the Stags are always looking to win the MAACs and perhaps earn another coveted spot in the NCAA tournament, both men’s and women’s teams look to improve on a match-to-match basis.

“Our top priority is to keep getting better,” Wyshner said. “That not only makes this year more successful, but it puts us in a better position in the following years as well.”

Speaking of the Stags’ future, two distinguished high school seniors committed late in the fall semester to playing for Fairfield next year.

Gretchen Amberg, from Manasquan High School in Spring Lake, N.J., signed a letter of intent in December. Amberg played No. 1 and No. 2 singles during her high school career, and was ranked in the top 30 in the USTA Middle States Girls 16’s rankings on the junior circuit.

Ryan Berthod, of White Plains N.Y., committed in November. Berthod, who played singles at Iona Prep and was named the team’s MVP, was ranked 29 in Eastern Section of the USTA Boys 16’s in 2004.

“We are really excited about Gretchen and Ryan joining the program next year,” Wyshner said. “They are both highly ranked juniors that will have an impact on our starting line-up from day one.”