[media-credit id=2177 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]In a battle of two undefeated MAAC teams, the Quinnipiac men’s tennis team suffered its first loss of the season to Monmouth, 7-0, on Saturday afternoon in Hamden.

Quinnipiac honored seniors Julian Rozenstein and Kyle Alper before the match for their four years of service with the team. Rozenstein is tied for second all-time in wins at Quinnipiac with 137 and Alper is ninth with 93.

The Bobcats (9-9, 6-1 MAAC) were unable to win any of the matches in this one, losing all three doubles matches and all four singles matches.

“They’re the two-time defending champs, and they played like it today,” Alper said. “We came out with a ton of energy, but we now know their level. The individual scores were way closer than the overall score, and that’s something we have to take away.”

Monmouth (12-13, 6-0 MAAC) dominated throughout the afternoon, as it dropped just one set in total. At fourth singles, sophomore Patrick Cachapero won the only set for Quinnipiac, but ultimately fell two sets to one.

In the doubles matches, Quinnipiac nearly took two out of three, but came away with nothing in the end. Sophomore Axel Stern and freshman Hielke Moore fell 7-5 at second doubles while Rozenstein and Cachapero lost 6-4 at first doubles.

Quinnipiac’s first and only outdoor home match of the season was a windy affair, which certainly had an impact on the players.

“These guys [on Monmouth] are great players,” Rozenstein said. “We definitely put 100 percent in, and they went out and proved that they were the best team in the conference. I think conditions were tough today for sure, but they overcame it better than we did.”

With the loss, Quinnipiac is assured the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Tournament next weekend in Mercer County, New Jersey. The top four teams in the conference qualify, so Quinnipiac will likely face off with No. 3 Marist, a team the Bobcats beat 4-3 on April 10, on Saturday at the neutral site.

For the Bobcats, there is only one goal in mind. They want a rematch with Monmouth in the final on Sunday.

[media-credit id=2177 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]“I want to see them again really, really bad. I think we all do,” Rozenstein said. “We just want to take them down, and hopefully we’ll get another shot at them in the finals. It would be great to take away a championship from them.”

With a likely date with Marist looming, the Bobcats are focused on getting past that match without focusing too much on a potential battle with Monmouth in the title match. The positive about playing the No. 1 seed this late in the season is getting a good look at them.

“We knew [Monmouth] was good, but now we’ve seen them,” Quinnipiac head coach Chris Pappas said. “We know what’s in front of us, and now it’s all about working hard and overcoming the obstacle in front of us, and that’s what we’ve done all season.”

The Bobcats will take to the practice courts this week and prepare for the MAAC Tournament, something they’ve been focused on getting to all season long.

“I’ll take every single one of our guys [by my side] next week,” Alper said. “Today was a great atmosphere and I’m ready for next week.”