LOUDONVILLE, NY – At a rapid pace, Siena Tennis head coach Alex Van Cott continuously peppered tennis balls for his teams to charge the net to and put away to simulate game situations and test their reaction time at Tri-City Fitness on Wednesday morning during the team's practice session. 
 
It is an exercise designed with an aim to improve speed and precision in doubles' play this season for both Saints' squads.
 
"Obviously, doubles are really important," said second-year coach Van Cott.
 
"Last year, we didn't win a lot of doubles matches in the beginning, but then we got the teams right toward the end of the season. We started to do a lot better so doubles are something we have really worked on. In the college tennis environment, it's important to get that first point. The main thing was that we played our best toward the end of the season, peak at the right time and I think we did that."
 
"We have to continue to work hard in practice. Get some confidence early in the season. Clean up some things here and there. But, if we're playing our best by the end of the season, I think we'll have a very good chance this year." 
 
Siena Tennis will pick up the second half of its 2025-2026 campaign hosting LIU on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. from the home confines of Tri-City Fitness.

The Siena Men had a record of 19-16 in singles play during the fall portion and were 14-18 in doubles play while the Siena Women were also much better in singles play, sporting a 26-21 mark against a 14-30 record in doubles competition. 
 
There are only two returning players on the men's side, represented by sophomores Bruno Loch Varella and Emilio Zavala Salinas.

Five of the six players on the women's team are returners including seniors Madeline De Faber-Schumacher and Reegan Mullaney and juniors Manuela Gomez, Zaara Omar and Andrea Vargas.
 
The top two players on the men's side were junior transfer Sviatoslav Koliadynskyi, who went 6-3 in singles play during the fall, and Varella, who recorded a mark of 4-1 in singles play.
 
Leading the Siena Women were freshman Selma Bellaouchi (9-4 in singles play) and Gomez (7-4 in singles play). 
 
The 2026 spring season will include 17 head-to-head match ups on the men's side and 19 head-to-head matches on the women's side including a program-record 12 matches on home sites including Tri-City Fitness in Latham (mostly will be utilized when it's colder outside) as well as Sharp Courts at RPI and Central Park in Schenectady for potential outdoor matches. 
 
"We have a lot of home matches so I'm very excited for that," Gomez said. "I hope all my friends can come and support us." 
 
The first seven men's matches and first eight women's matches to start the 2026 slate will be non-conference.
 
"We have some really good doubles players," said junior Matteo Castellazzi.
 
"It's more the mental part that we have to practice more. Of course, there is some technical stuff (that we need) to improve especially with doubles on the volleys, baseline, and the first serve percentage."
 
The Siena Men went 6-13 last year including 5-3 in MAAC play and reached the MAAC Semifinals while the women's team went 8-11 including 5-3 in MAAC play and also reached the MAAC Semifinals Round.