POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - After missing out on the postseason a year ago, the Marist University men's tennis team returns to the MAAC Championships after finishing first in the conference with an 8-0 record and a 14-5 overall mark.

The top-seeded Red Foxes play their opening round match against fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m. at Princeton University Racquet and Fieldhouse.
 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Red Foxes earned a 4-3 victory over Rider on Senior Day to secure the outright MAAC regular season title, extend their winning streak to eight matches, and finish the regular season unbeaten in conference play.
• Marist opened the match with a strong performance in doubles, sweeping all three courts to secure the point. Senior Nick Suhanitski and junior Thomas Bevan earned a 6-4 win at No. 1, while sophomore Ian Layton and sophomore Gregor Heinemann followed with a 6-3 victory at No. 2. Sophomore Fateh Singh and graduate student Jose Catala completed the sweep with a 7-5 win at No. 3.
• In singles play, Marist earned three victories to clinch the match. Layton delivered a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 2, while freshman Alejandro Abella Fernandez was leading 6-0, 4-1 before his opponent retired at No. 3. Sophomore Anirudh Nallaparaju secured a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 4 to clinch the team win.

COACH OF THE YEAR

• In his second season at the helm, director of tennis Nathaniel Horner was named MAAC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year.
• This season marked the 12th time in program history that Marist went undefeated in MAAC play and the first since 2013-14. The 14 wins are the program's most in a season since 2016-17, and the Red Foxes posted the highest winning percentage in the MAAC (.737). 

ALL-MAAC RED FOXES

• Jose Catala earned All-MAAC Singles First Team recognition, while Alejandro Abella Fernandez and Anirudh Nallaparaju were named to the Second Team. Ian Layton was selected to the Third Team.
• Nick Suhanitski and Thomas Bevan were named to the All-MAAC Doubles First Team.

SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S

• The Mount enter the tournament with an 8-12 overall record and 5-3 mark in MAAC play.
• In singles, Stafanos Pournaropoulos was named Second Team All-MAAC while Alexi Roy garnered Third Team All-MAAC honors. In doubles, Pournaropoulos and Nikos Makris were named Third Team All-MAAC.
• In their previous matchup on March 14, the Red Foxes earned a 4-1 victory over the Mount.
• The two sides have never met in the MAAC postseason and have only met four times overall. Marist owns a 3-1 series lead over the Mount.

UP NEXT

• The winner of Saturday's semifinal will advance to the MAAC Championship match to face the winner of No. 2 Rider and No. 3 Quinnpiac on Sunday, April 26, at 3 p.m.