Fairfield’s only reigning conference champion issued a statement Saturday afternoon in its MAAC opener: This is their league until someone takes it from them. The women’s tennis team beat St. Peter’s 6-1 and improved to 5-8 overall. The Stags’ 2003-04 season was the best showing by a women’s tennis team in the school’s history. In addition to posting a program best 19-5 overall record, the team became the first women’s tennis team ever and only Fairfield team that year to represent the school in the NCAA tournament. With two players posting more than 20 wins, particularly strong doubles teams, and Coach Jeff Wyshner named 2004 MAAC Tennis Coach of the Year, the loss in the first round of the tournament does nothing to tarnish the season’s remarkable showing. Coming off a record-breaking season, all eyes are on Fairfield to defend their title. “I do not feel any pressure because of last year’s success. The team as a whole has already improved so much since the fall. I know that this team will be successful as well, whether it is this year or in years to come.” said co-captain Diana Webb ’05. This 2004-05 season began a bit rocky for the Stags. However, they have come back from dropping six losses to posting wins in five of their last seven matches. Saturday’s match was the squad’s first in-conference match. The MAAC schedule shows promise. The six teams are anticipated to be closely matched and last season Fairfield finished first. In Saturday’s win, the Stags swept all three doubles matches and showed strong performance in the singles. The squad is now 5-8 overall and 1-0 in the MAAC, one step closer to returning to the NCAA tournament. The main challenge in doing this will be overcoming the lack of experience of this year’s squad. The team only returned two out of last year’s top six players. Thus, much will be expected from number one and two singles players and co-captains Diana Webb and Megan Stauffer ’06. The young team doesn’t shake Webb’s confidence. “Every year a new team is formed, with new talent and potential,” she said. “This year we have three new players on the team. They are great competitors and work extremely hard to always improve.” “While we struggled with our non-conference schedule in October and February, the incredible commitment of the women’s team has really started to pay dividends,” Wyshner said. Wyshner, coach of the men and women, will look for the men to join the women as the MAAC’s elite. He said he has seen promise in the men as well. They beat Fordham 6-1 Friday during their first outdoor home match, and opened the MAAC schedule with a 6-1 win at St. Peter’s the next day. These back-to-back victories improve the men to 6-4 overall and 1-0 in the MAAC. Unlike the women’s team, the men have five of their top six players returning this season. This includes number two singles player and Captain Kevin Nyarady and number one singles player Jonathan Fernando, both of whom are expected to lead the Stags this season. With experience on their side, the Stags are vying to challenge the team’s all-time record of 13 wins in a year, and to improve upon last year’s third place finish. “The men’s team is eager to see how well they match up with the top two teams in the conference” said Wyshner. So as this tennis season opens, Fairfield men will be attempting to break records as the women strive to defend theirs.
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