For a team as accomplished in the MAAC as Quinnipiac men’s tennis, it would be easy to say that the biggest goal this season is a third straight conference title.
But for head coach Bryan Adinolfi, this season is more than just the hardware the squad hopes to bring home from West Windsor, N.J.; it’s about building a lasting culture that drives the growth of an entire program.
Like any championship team, it starts with the “small things,” especially in a conference that is as tightly contested as the MAAC.
“In tennis, I think it’s kind of rare to have a conference where there are lots of teams that can win the whole thing,” Adinolfi said. “In our conference, there are lots of teams that can win the whole thing, and there’s going to be a couple of very good teams that get left out of the postseason tournament.”
Aspects of any sport that may get lost in the shuffle when one team is inherently more talented — traits like injury prevention and fitness — are at the top of the Bobcats’ list of controllables that will help facilitate greater MAAC success.
Despite the Bobcats steadily improving conference record during Adolfini’s tenure, a heavy focus from the coaching staff remains on ensuring that the culture of the team is of utmost importance — starting with a strong work ethic.
“We have a great group of guys,” Adinolfi said. “The guys that, you know, have it in them… they motivate the ones that maybe don’t have it as much. So that culture causes everyone to work hard.”
Another “small thing” that can’t be understated? The importance of team chemistry. For a sport that Adinolfi describes as largely “individual,” the squad’s cohesiveness remains a strength.
“It definitely helps that there is a lot of familiar faces going into the season,” sophomore Elias Hoxha said. “It’s important… to be able to integrate the new players.”
New additions have been key to the success of Quinnipiac in the past. In his freshman season, it was Hoxha who scored the match clinching set in No. 4 singles to secure a second straight MAAC Championship. His success in singles, with a 10-0 record in conference play, earned him All-MAAC First Team Singles honors last season.
Integrating new players has been equally important in doubles play and was the motivator for splitting up long-time doubles partners, juniors Carlos Braun Simo and Finn Burridge.
“There is some thought into where are we going to put the…person with the big serve versus the person that has a great backhand return,” Adinolfi said. “It gives us a chance to win two out of three (matches).”
A big catalyst for this mixing up of the pairs is the loss of Daniel Velek ‘25. The Sezimovo Usti, Czech Republic native played a big role on this Bobcat team, both as a veteran presence and as a consistent winner on the court.
“Last year the seniors, Danny and Yasha (Laskin ‘25), I think have had a great impact on my game and my personal development in college tennis,” Hoxha said.
However, Adinolfi believes that the team has done a good job filling the space that Velek has left behind, both in the locker room and on the court.
“As we move through the spring season, I’m noticing that it maybe was a bigger loss for us in the fall, and that other players are stepping up into their role,” Adinolfi said.
Braun Simo, one of the team’s captains, seems to be a key candidate in filling that void. The new No. 1 singles player, as well as joining freshman Alessandro Sciacca in No. 1 doubles, has made his mark on the young season. The two-time All-MAAC player is 3-2 in singles this spring.
The No. 1 doubles pairing is also improving. Although the doubles point has eluded the Bobcats for much of the young season, Braun Simo and Sciacca have won their individual match in three of the Bobcats’ five contests.
This calls into question the elephant seemingly looming over the Bobcats’ season: their record.
Sitting at 1-4 as of publication, the Bobcats have struggled out of the gate early against non-conference opponents, earning the first match win 4-3 against Illinois State University on Feb. 20.
This isn’t new for Quinnipiac. Last season, it ended the season with a 2-11 record against non-conference opponents, failing to secure a non-conference win until March 9 against Colgate.
However, this difficult schedule is by design. The schedule is packed with the maximum number of matches allowed under NCAA rules, which is against strong non-conference opponents.
“It’s a little risky because losing a lot is tough on the confidence, but it also makes you better,” Adinolfi said.
There’s no better example of this than in the team’s road match against Columbia University on March 7. Columbia is consistently ranked in the top 25 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Collegiate Tennis Rankings and eliminated the Bobcats from the NCAA Tournament two seasons ago.
That’s where Adinolfi’s idea of culture comes in. Winning MAAC tournaments and playing high profile non-conference opponents are just the start of that vision for the future of Quinnipiac men’s tennis. The goal is to bring in talent for the future that would otherwise not give the squad a second look, and build a reputation for the program.
“One of the goals as a coach that I try to pass down to the players is that little by little, with the improvements, we would like to get recognized as a mid-major (program) in a small conference,” Adinolfi said. “I think that two years ago, (Columbia) wouldn’t have responded to my email, but because we won the conference, we got a little bit of extra recognition.”
According to Adinolfi, inviting in that stronger non-conference competition could be a draw to tennis players with aspirations beyond the MAAC. At Quinnipiac, players have the opportunity to win in conference play and face some of the best in the country outside of the MAAC.
But that starts with conference success, which the team needs to continue to replicate to build that culture.
The Bobcats will have to wait until March 22 to get that first chance at conference play, taking on Sacred Heart at home at 11 a.m.
