If you’d ask 100 players across every single sport on campus what their team’s goal was for the upcoming season, their answer would be to win and that they believe that this will be the season they will win.

The tennis teams weren’t an exception to this rule. When I spoke to sophomore Caitlin Flower at the beginning of their season, she said: “This year, we’re focusing on taking it really seriously and putting in the work that needs to be put in to have a successful season and hopefully get a win at the end.”

Men’s head coach Bryan Adinolfi’s team came off a winning season, so according to him, “the pressure (was) on to try to live up to the expectations.”

“I think we can do it,” Adinolfi said before their season. “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.”

And come the end of April, both teams did indeed do it.

Niagara University. Marist College. Merrimack College. Rider University. Siena College. Mount St. Mary’s College. Sacred Heart University. Even Fairfield University.

One by one, each of the MAAC teams fell to the Bobcats.

So yes, the tennis teams were indeed amongst the 100 players who would tell you that their team would be the one to win. But unlike all of them, tennis delivered on that word.

WOMEN

The women’s team proved that they indeed do belong on the top, securing their 10th regular season title since moving to the conference in the 2013-14 season.

To open the MAAC, the girls struggled a bit. Flower and graduate student Jordan Bradley both dropped their games against Niagara, as well as the duos of Bradley, sophomore Caroline Schulson and sophomore Anagha Shankar with junior Vera Sekerina lost their doubles matches and consequently the doubles point.

But that was February. Since then, the Bobcats proved that their place is on top, and did not drop more than two points, in fact, only dropping six other points — nine altogether.

The pair of Flower and freshman Willow Renton certainly helped as the No. 1 doubles team, as they did not drop a single game, and did not lose more than two games per set.

Hoping on the undefeated streak, last year’s No. 1 player Shankar who sat at the No. 3 place this season, and the No. 5 Schulson, both went 8-0 on the MAAC.

Head coach Paula Miller set up a strong line-up this season, as the first five spots remained unchanged throughout MAAC play, with Renton at No. 1, Flower at No. 2 and Sekerina at No. 4 to join Shankar and Schulson.

Bradley and sophomore Ella Lewis split the No. 6 spot, with Lewis playing five out of the eight games. Bradley might not have appeared in many games throughout the season, but the Bobcat earns her fourth degree from the university this year, and that is an achievement in itself.

While the Bobcats clinched their No. 1 spot even before the end of the regular season, Fairfield settled right behind them as the No. 2 — which Quinnipiac defeated 5-2 to close out its season, after dropping the doubles point and a singles match from Lewis.

Their biggest support could come from Renton, who in her first season in Hamden won MAAC Player of the Week three times — the only player on the team to receive this title.

MEN

For the first time in the team’s MAAC history, the Bobcats were named outright as the regular season champions. It’s almost poetic how this accomplishment follows exactly a year since their first MAAC title.

Just like the women, the men started off slowly, just barely winning over Niagara 4-3 back in February. But again, in a mirror-like fashion to the girls, they found their groove come March.

Starting off strong, the dynamic doubles duo is back, with sophomores Carlos Braun-Simo and Finn Burridge back together at the No. 1 spot after playing separately during pre-season games. Unfortunately, they weren’t that dynamic this year, winning only three sets.

The Bobcats went 3-5 on the doubles point in MAAC, switching around a lot of the pairings on the No. 2 and No. 3 spot. Coming into the MAAC Tournament, this is definitely the area to watch out for Quinnipiac.

Freshman Elias Hoxha was the only player on the team to go undefeated, playing at the No. 4 spot, earning the MAAC Player of the Week after the last win at Fairfield. 

Graduate student Daniel Velek joined him in that honor for back to back weeks, as well as earning the title of MAAC Student Athlete of the Week. Velek, after a few hiccups at the beginning of the season, dominated at the No. 1 spot for Quinnipiac and is clearly a key player going forward into the Tournament.

Unlike the girls, the men’s team seems to be playing with more depth this year, as multiple players switched out the No. 5 and No. 6 spots — graduate student Alex Yang, freshman Vishal Prakash and freshman James Lorenzetti fighting for their chance to play.

What was surprising was the complete absence of graduate student Donovan Brown, who sat at the comfortable No. 6 spot last season.

Even the senior captain Yasha Laskin finally saw some play time, even if only in doubles at the No. 3 spot alongside Velek against Mount St. Mary and with Hoxha against Rider, Merrimack, Marist and Niagara.

MAAC TOURNAMENT

Both teams are now waiting for their opponent in the MAAC Tournament. As the No. 1 seed, both teams get a BYE in the first round.

Men’s team will play the winner of Mount St. Mary’s and Niagara on Friday at 10 a.m., while the women’s team will face the winner of Rider and Siena that same day at 2 p.m.

Both teams proved that they have what it takes to win against every single team in the conference. On paper, it is clear who should be crowned the MAAC Champion.

Reality is a different thing, though, but I guess only time will tell.