A season filled with injuries ended on a strong note for the women’s tennis team, who finished in fifth place in the MAAC tournament, with a 9-12-1 record this past weekend in Flushing, N.Y.
The Stags overcame injuries to Paulina Rys ’10, Dana Postupack ’10, Marisa Voloshin ’09 and Michaela Cerrone ’09 to defeat Rider and then tie Manhattan for fifth place.
Fairfield opened up the tournament on Friday with a hard-fought loss to the third-seeded Siena Saints, 4-3. The Saints won the championship last season and finished in third place this year.
The Stags then blanked Rider, 7-0, on Saturday and tied Manhattan, 1-1, on Sunday, because the time limit for the match expired.
“The team played tremendous this weekend,” said head coach Ed Paige. “I was very impressed by the way the team played. Players coming back from injuries were a big reason for our success.”
Fairfield began the match against Siena by losing the double’s point.
The Stags battled back on the singles side, with Postupack, Gabriela Davila ’09 and Courtney Price ’08 all picking up victories. Rys came close to winning her match, but after splitting the first two sets, she fell, 6-3, in the third set.
The team easily defeated Rider, with all players picking up victories on both the single’s and double’s side to move onto a match against Manhattan. Price, who will be the only senior next year, had an undefeated tournament.
The game against Manhattan was called at a 1-1 tie because the tennis center was only rented until 6 p.m.
Paige said he hopes that this season was a good learning experience for the young players, who overcame various obstacles.
“I tell the team that we shouldn’t use the injuries as an excuse,” said Paige. “It gives an opportunity for somebody lower on the ladder to step up. In the end the players that needed to step up did, and that will help us next year.”
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