EDISON, NJ (Apr. 20, 2023) – The 2023 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships are set to take place this weekend on Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23 at Mercer County Park Tennis Center in West Windsor, New Jersey. This marks the 11^th consecutive championship held at Mercer County Park Tennis Center dating back to the 2012 MAAC Men's & Women's Tennis Championships. First serve for all men’s matches are set for 10:00 a.m., while the women’s matches have a 2:00 p.m. start.
 
The four-team championship field on the men’s side include Tri-Regular Season Champions Fairfield University, Quinnipiac University, and Siena College, while Marist College will be the fourth seed. The women’s field features the quartet of MAAC Regular Season Champion and top-overall seed Quinnipiac, No. 2 Fairfield, No. 3 Siena, and No. 4 Mount St. Mary’s University.
 
Fairfield, Quinnipiac, and Siena each earned a share of the MAAC Men’s Tennis Regular Season crown, posting identical 4-2 league marks in 2023. By virtue of head-to-head tiebreaker amongst the trio, the Stags (2-0) secured the top seed, while the Bobcats (1-1) earned the second seed, and the Saints (0-2) the third seed. Fairfield was been crowned MAAC regular season champions twice in program history, last winning it in 2009, while the Stags have won a total of five MAAC Championships, claiming the tournament titles in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 2012. For Quinnipiac, it is the program’s second time being named regular season champs, first winning the title in 2016, while the Bobcats have never won a MAAC postseason championship. Siena clinched its program’s first ever regular season trophy in 2023, and the Saints are also seeking their first ever MAAC tournament championship this season.
 
Quinnipiac garnered its ninth straight MAAC Women’s Regular Season Championship, compiling a perfect 6-0 conference record. Since joining the conference in 2013-14, the Bobcats have won the regular season outright eight times and has compiled a dominating 60-1 MAAC regular season record over the timespan. In postseason action, Quinnipiac seeks its seventh tournament trophy, having claimed MAAC titles in five consecutive seasons from 2014 through 2018, before returning to the top of the MAAC last season in 2022.
 
Men’s Matchups
No. 1 Fairfield (7-9, 4-2 MAAC) vs. No. 4 Marist (3-14, 3-3 MAAC)
Mercer County Park Tennis Center | WEST WINDSOR, NJ
 
The first semis matchup puts No. 1 Fairfield and No. 4 Marist across the net from one another for the second time in a little over a week, having met on Tuesday, April 11 at Fairfield during the regular season. The Stags came away with a dominating 6-1 home win over the Red Foxes, earning the doubles point and victories in all the singles matches except the number five flight. Fairfield returns to the championship in 2023 after missing the field in 2022, making its program’s 10^th appearance in the tournament since the MAAC changed to a four-team tournament format in 2011. Marist is also making its first playoff berth since 2021, missing the cut last season which ended the program’s 10 year championship streak dating back to 2011. The Red Foxes ended the 2023 regular season with a 3-3 league mark, placing the team in a three-way tied for fourth with Niagara and Rider, but clinched a berth by way of a 2-0 head-to-head tiebreaker against the duo. The Red Foxes have been crowned MAAC Champions a conference-leading 12 times since 1998, having last won a league tournament in 2015. The two MAAC juggernauts have met seven times previously in the postseason, which included six straight meetings in the title match from 2008 through 2014, with Marist winning five out of the six finals, and six out of the seven overall matches in the tournament. The last meeting between the sides in the championship came during the semifinal round of the 2014 season, with the Red Foxes coming away with a 4-1 triumph.
 
No. 2 Quinnipiac (10-10, 4-2 MAAC) vs. No. 3 Siena (11-10, 4-2 MAAC)
Mercer County Park Tennis Center | WEST WINDSOR, NJ
 
The second semifinal match will feature a pair of 4-2 MAAC squads and is a rematch of last season’s semifinals, with No. 2 Quinnipiac taking on No. 3 Siena. When the two sides square off on Saturday morning, it will be exactly two weeks since they met on Saturday, April 8 in Loudonville, NY.  The Bobcats edged the Saints 4-3 on the road in that meeting, ultimately leading to Quinnipiac securing the second seed by way of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Quinnipiac claimed the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, Siena secured singles victories at the No. 1, No. 4, and No. 5 spots, but the Bobcats wins at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 6 singles clinched the match. The Bobcats qualify for their seventh consecutive MAAC tournament dating back to 2015 and despite never winning the tournament, Quinnipiac has advanced to the finals three times previously in 2016, 2019, and last year in 2022, dropping all three matches to former MAAC member Monmouth. Siena is back in the championship field for the second consecutive season after ending a 12-year postseason drought in 2022 and will be seeking its first win in the semifinal round in program history. This will be the second tournament meeting between the two sides in as many years, with Quinnipiac taking last season’s semifinal match, 4-3.
 
Women’s Matchups
No. 1 Quinnipiac (13-8, 6-0 MAAC) vs. No. 4 Mount St. Mary’s (5-7, 2-4 MAAC)
Mercer County Park Tennis Center | WEST WINDSOR, NJ
 
Defending champion, No. 1 Quinnipiac will welcome the newest MAAC member No. 4 Mount St. Mary’s to the league’s postseason tournament in one semifinals match. When the two squads met on Saturday, April 1, the Bobcats knocked off the Mountaineers 5-2 in Connecticut, keeping their perfect conference record intact. Quinnipiac took four out of the six singles, while also sweeping the three doubles matches. The Bobcats will be playing in their ninth consecutive MAAC postseason since joining the league in 2013-14 and has advanced to the championship final all eight times previously while posting a record of 14-2 in the tournament during the timeframe. On the other side, the Mount finished its inaugural MAAC campaign 2-4 and 5-7 overall, locking the team in a three-way fourth place tie with Niagara and Rider. The Mountaineers would clinch their playoff berth by point advantage in the pair of matches over the two teams during the regular season. Despite holding a record under .500, the Mount enters the championship on a three-match winning streak, with a 7-0 win over Marist in their MAAC-finale, and a pair of nonconference wins over St. Bonaventure and Loyola Maryland this past week. Although this will be the first postseason clash between Quinnipiac and Mount St. Mary’s as MAAC foes, the sides have a playoff history, having met four times previously as NEC members. The Bobcats took all four meetings against the Mountaineers, winning in the conference semifinals three straight years from 2004-2006 and in the final meeting during the 2013 quarterfinals.
 
No. 2 Fairfield (9-8, 5-1 MAAC) vs. No. 3 Siena (11-11, 4-2 MAAC)
Mercer County Park Tennis Center | WEST WINDSOR, NJ

Meeting in the semifinal round for the third straight season will be No. 2 Fairfield and No. 3 Siena, in a matchup between the only two teams to win MAAC Championships along with Quinnipiac since 2014, with Fairfield winning the 2019 crown and Siena taking home the 2021 title. The Stags clinched a berth in the championship field for the ninth overall time since the implementation of a four-team tournament format in 2011, going 5-1 in league play. Fairfield won its first five straight conference matches, before falling to Quinnipiac in its regular season-finale for its lone loss. The Stags are making their fourth straight championship since 2019 and 10^th overall postseason appearance since 2011. The most successful women’s program in league history, the Stags own 10 MAAC Championship titles dating back to the early 90’s, which included winning five total league tournaments over a six year span from 1992 through 1997. Siena earned a championship berth for the seventh consecutive year since 2016 and is making its eighth appearance in total since 2011 following a 4-2 MAAC regular season which only featured losses to the two teams ranked ahead of them. The Saints have previously won the MAAC Championship twice, claiming the tournament in 2006 and two short seasons ago in 2021. In the regular season matchup between the teams back on Tuesday, April 4 at Fairfield, Fairfield swept Siena, 7-0, improving the Stags to 2-0 on the season while the loss was the first for the Saints at the time, making them 2-1. In playoff action, the two have previously faced off in the tournament four times, which includes back-to-back meeting in 2021 and 2022. Fairfield holds a 3-1 advantage in the series, winning in 2008, 2011 and last season by way of a 4-0 sweep, while Siena’s only playoff win between the two came during the 2021 semifinals.
 
For all information regarding the 2023 MAAC Men's & Women’s Tennis Championships, please visit maacsports.com/tennis.
 
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 42nd year of competition during the 2022-23 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan College, Marist College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
 
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