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The Niagara men’s and women’s tennis teams head back on the road to face to two strong teams in the Fairfield Stags and Bryant Bulldogs this weekend.

Niagara’s contests with Fairfield on both sides are matchups between unbeaten teams in conference play. The Niagara men are 4-0 and women are 5-0, while the Fairfield men are 3-0 and the women are 4-0.

The Niagara men (12-6) have an eight-match winning streak which is their longest since winning eight during the 2002-03 campaign. The Purple Eagles’ 12 wins are the most since claiming 14 victories during that same season.

Leading the charge is Olivier Dufour-Coursol who has a MAAC-best 19 wins on the season, which are the most by a Purple Eagle in eight seasons, and is on a team-best eight-match winning streak. Lorenz Schwojer (15-5) and Brandon Gallegos (14-8) both hold seven-match unbeaten runs, while Mathieu Lacasse (14-5) and Michael Elortegui (9-10) have six and five-match winning streaks, respectively.  Lacasse and Elortegui have teamed up to win seven straight matches in No. 3 doubles. Dufour-Coursol and David Raymond lead the squad with a 12-6 mark in doubles action. 

Fairfield is 9-6 on the season and 5-0 at home. Ofir Solomon leads the team in singles with a 15-9 record and his doubles partner Dennis Zlobinsky is a team-best 16-7.

Niagara has dropped the last eight meetings to Fairfield, including four times in the MAAC Tournament semifinals. The Purple Eagles were edged 4-3 in last season’s semis to the Stags, who eventually won the tournament. Bryant (11-8, 6-0 NEC) has won three straight heading into Sunday’s match. Dana Parziale has a team-best 19-10 record in singles.

The Niagara women (12-5) are also on a winning streak of their own. The Purple Eagles, who have won eight of the last nine matches, currently have a five-match win streak for their longest since April 2005 (six straight). No. 1 singles player Hilary Hansen won her third straight match on Monday against St. Bonaventure to tie Sarah Hellstern for the team-lead in wins with 13. Maria Ortiz (9-5)has won her last four matches and classmate Ashley Ta (9-12) has won three in a row. Iva Celan (12-6) has the longest active win streak on the team with seven. NU has been playing well in doubles all spring, especially in the last few weeks.

The Purple Eagles have won the doubles point in five straight matches and have won 13 of the 15 matches played during that stretch. Hansen and Ortiz lead the team with a 12-3 record and have won five straight. Hellstern and Celan also have won five straight and Ta and Jenna McCune have won their last two matches.

Fairfield (7-6) enters Saturday’s match winners of three straight and the Stags have won five of the last seven meetings with Niagara. Fairfield’s No. 1 Monica Yajima leads the team with a 14-8 record in singles. Bryant (10-7, 3-1 NEC) is led by Lucy Bird’s 14-6 record in singles.