Despite facing the up and downs that come with a long season, Siena Men's Tennis first-year head coach Alex Van Cott believes his team has steadily improved throughout the season and now they'll have an opportunity to make a MAAC Championship run when it begins its quest in the Semifinals Round on Saturday at 10 a.m. from Mercer County Tennis Park in West Windsor, NJ. 
 
The Saints (6-12 overall, 5-3 MAAC) will seeded second for just the second time in program history—its highest seed since teams began being seeded in the 2004 MAAC Tennis Tournament—and will face No. 6 Rider, who upended No. 3 Fairfield 4-2 on Friday. 
 
The winner will play the winner of the No. 1 Quinnipiac/No. 5 Niagara on Sunday for the MAAC Championship at 10 a.m. 
 
It also marks the third time in the previous four seasons that Siena will at least reach the MAAC Semifinal Round. It won the program's first MAAC Championship as a third seed over No.1 Fairfield 4-0 in 2023.  Siena is 9-13 all-time in the MAAC Men's Tennis Tournament.
 
The Saints hold a 23-7 all-time series edge against the Broncs. Rider pulled out a 4-3 win against Siena the last time these teams met just 11 days earlier in Lawrenceville, NJ. The Broncs have two each of the past two meetings between the teams—both 4-3—before Siena had run off seven consecutive wins against them in the series.
 
In the match up on April 15, the Saints won the doubles point with a boost from tandem victories from Emilio Zavala Salinas/Oscar Martinez and the team of Maxwell Acri/Bruno Loch Varella. 
 
Rider (10-13 overall, 4-4 MAAC) took four of six singles matches, however, with wins from Dhruv Tangri, Nathan Slattery, Cole Thurgur and Axel Engstrom.
 
Siena and Rider last met in the postseason in the 2007 MAAC Tournament when the fifth-seeded Saints knocked off the No. 8 Broncs 4-3.  Siena leads the all-time playoff series 2-0. 
 
Rider has been led this season by three double-digit winners in Thurgur (13-8 in singles), Matteas Froberg Dahlin (12-10) and Tangri (10-8).  All three top doubles pairings have won six times apiece (Froberg Dahlin/Tangri, Cooper Dillon/Engstrom and Roger Martinez/Thurgur).
 
Siena is led by MAAC Player of the Year Oscar Martinez (23-9 singles, 24-12 doubles).  Acri (14-14 singles) and Bruno Loch Varella (12-15) have the second and third most victories. In doubles play, Martinez and Breen have combined to run a team-best 17-10 while Martinez has also teamed with Zavala Salinas for a 7-2 mark. 
 
To follow live coverage, head to MAAC Tournament Central.