Three hundred and six days ago, nine Bobcats made program history, when they lifted the MAAC trophy over their heads for the first time after 10 years in the conference.
Now, the defending champions are determined to prove they belong at the top.
“We’re picks No. 1,” head coach Bryan Adinolfi said. “The pressure is on to try to live up to the expectations but I think we can do it, I think we have the talent to do it, it’s just the matter of squeezing everything out of everyone as much as we can to play the best tennis of their life come the end of April.”
With the loss of senior captains Ayato Arakaki and Shaurya Sood to graduation, that honor now goes to senior Yasha Laskin — a player who rarely ever sees any play time.
“Shaurya and Ayato as senior captains, it’s difficult to replace that kind of experience, playing pretty high in the line-up,” Adinolfi said. “So filling those gaps is definitely challenging but I think that we’ve done a good job.”
However, the team still dons three graduate students, in the form of two returners — Daniel Velek and Donovan Brown — and a transfer Alex Yang.
“He played at NYU, he’s a good addition,” Adinolfi said.
Yang isn’t the only new face on the team. He is one of the two players that joined the Bobcats in the spring semester, but overall five new members now fight for the navy and gold.
Freshmen Elias Hoxha and James Loranzetti have made quite the entrance in their rookie season, playing consistently on the No. 4 and No. 5 position respectively.
The remaining new faces, freshmen Vishal Prakash and Carl Sjoholm have yet to make their mark, as Prakash has been fighting some injuries, and Sjoholm is fighting for that No. 6 spot.
However, even with a lot of new faces, Quinnipiac’s team maintained most of its roster from last year and the returners are nothing to sleep on.
Juniors Csanad Nyaradi and Gaurav Mootha, alongside Brown, are all fighting for that No. 5-6 spot with the freshmen, creating what the team never really had in the past — depth.
“We’re looking as good as last year,” Adinolfi said. “And the hope is to win it again.”
Velek is back at the No. 1 position, but this time he is supported by sophomores Carlos Braun-Simo and Finn Burridge from their respective No. 2 and No. 3 spots — a jump from their No. 4-5-6 positions they found themselves in last season.
Unfortunately the dynamic then-freshman doubles duo from last year is no longer together on the line-up, as now Burridge plays alongside Hoxha at the No. 2 doubles spot, while Braun-Simo spots Yang as his No. 3 doubles partner.
“Our closeness doesn’t thankfully just come from us playing doubles,” Braun-Simo said. “We’re usually on the court next to each other. Finn and Elias are playing well together, me and Alex are playing well together, it would’ve been cool to play all four years together but it doesn’t seem like it’s gonna happen.”
The doubles line-up is rounded out by Velek and Lorenzetti leading the pack at the No. 1 spot.
With such a stacked up team, one would think that the Bobcats would have no troubles entering their season. However, their record so far, (0-7), would quickly prove someone otherwise, at least at the first glance. Adinolfi knows it’s about much more than that.
“This was definitely the strongest schedule that Quinnipiac men’s tennis has ever had,” Adinolfi said. “We’re playing Harvard who’s top 10 in the country, we’ve got five Ivy’s on the schedule. It was done purposefully, playing a tough schedule, the idea is to get us prepared to play at a higher level when we play our conference matches.”
“Everyone can grow and I think that’s kind of the mindset everyone has,” Burridge said. “To the external viewers that look at it as, men’s tennis is getting killed every week, but for us it’s about the MAAC.”
And after opponents like No. 59 Penn State or No. 27 Cornell, the MAAC opponents can’t seem so scary. Nevertheless, Adinolfi knows not to underestimate anyone.
“Fairfield has the talent and they have become our rival,” Adinolfi said. “Siena, Marist and Niagara all have good teams as well, in my opinion everyone is good and no match will be easy and everyone will have to fight for those six spots in the conference tournament and to win the whole thing. In a sense that makes it really exciting, because our work ethic and team chemistry and all those little things actually matter.”
Quinnipiac will begin MAAC play March 22 against Marist at the Red Foxes’ home courts. The Bobcat’s home opener is set for March 23 when they host out-of-conference opponent LIU before returning to MAAC play March 29 against conference rookie Merrimack.
“I love the fact that we have outdoor courts here, it’s a place to defend,” Braun-Simo said. “When we have people coming to watch, friends, parents and other athletes, it’s an additional pressure but it’s also an honor to have a court to fight for and feel at home at.”
