The higher-ups at AU might not have expected this to happen. In a season filled with adversity, AU's best team, the Men's Tennis squad, defends its Patriot League crown at home against Colgate, Army and Navy this weekend.
The tournament opens Saturday with the Eagles taking on Colgate and Army playing Navy. The winners will compete Sunday in the league championship game for the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
After clinching the league regular-season title, the Eagles should be favorites. But they know nothing is a sure thing.
"If we don't come out playing well, we could lose early," said senior captain Juan Jaysingh. "But we've played so hard all year and worked for this, so I'm pretty confident and excited about our chances."
The Eagles come off a perfect Patriot League season, which they concluded with a 5-2 victory at Lehigh on Monday afternoon, to push to 15-4, 6-0 in the league.
In the victory, the Eagles lost their doubles point with No. 1 team Jaysingh and sophomore Jeff Schnell, 8-2. Junior Juancarlo Vazquez lost the only singles match, while Jaysingh, juniors Nicolas Frayssinoux and Sebastien Proisy, sophomore Jeff Schnell and freshman Marc Doumba won singles matches.
"We haven't been playing well in the doubles, and that could be a problem for us since we play doubles first in the tournament," Jaysingh said.
As the only senior on the team, Jaysingh was switched to the No. 1 singles spot around the same time as he was named Patriot League Player of the Month for March. He will likely play there again this weekend, with Vazquez, the early season's top singles player, staying at No. 2. First-year head coach Kyle Bailey may switch up the doubles pairings.
The Eagles expect a large crowd this weekend. The last two years, they have averaged 250 fans at the championship. And with all the drama surrounding the future elimination of the program, it is likely that many more fans will come out to support AU tennis.
"The home-court advantage will be huge," Jaysingh said. "The fans have really helped us the past couple years, and we'll need them this weekend."
One thing the Eagles may have to overcome is a recent team injury bug. Jaysingh and Vazquez are both nursing ailments. Thus, over the past few weeks, Bailey has cut down their training activity to save them for the postseason.
For Jaysingh, this weekend represents his final opportunity to take a step toward an NCAA victory. For three seasons, the Eagles have knocked on the door but have not been able to break through. In Bailey's first season, they look like a dangerous team.
"I'm really happy and excited about the way we've played and for what we could do," Jaysingh said.
What they could do starts with what they must do first. That starts this weekend.
