After an abysmal 2024-25 season (5-14, 1-7 MAAC), Marist men’s tennis captured the outright MAAC regular season title for the first time since 2014. The clincher over Rider on April 17 not only completed the program’s first undefeated regular season against conference opponents since 2013-14, but it restored a program with a rich history of success. The Red Foxes will look to win their first match at the MAAC Championships since 2018.
“Last season, we had possibly the worst season in Marist history,” said senior Nick Suahnitski. “We did have a bit of a chip on our shoulder to come back this year and prove that we are a good team.”
In former head coach Tim Smith’s 21-year tenure in Poughkeepsie (1998-2018), the Red Foxes decimated their MAAC foes. Smith won 12 MAAC Championships, rattling off seven titles in eight seasons from 2008-2015. The four-time MAAC Coach of the Year compiled a 142-11 record in MAAC play and led Marist to 11 perfect conference seasons.
Following Smith’s resignation, Gary Sussman, who led the women’s tennis program for one season (2017–18), took over the men’s program a year later and was named director of tennis. In Sussman’s five seasons as director—two of them shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic—the men’s team did not win a match in two MAAC Championships appearances.
To replace Sussman, Marist promoted his assistant, Deepak Sharma. Sharma was dismissed after just one season, creating another vacancy at director of tennis. After Smith piloted the men’s program for just over two decades, the university conducted a nearly two-month search before hiring Nathaniel Horner on Sept. 4, 2024. A program in need of stability, Horner became the third different director in as many seasons.
By leading the Red Foxes to their most wins in a season (14) since 2016-17 and finishing the season on an eight-match unbeaten streak, Horner was named MAAC Coach of the Year. In preparation for the MAAC Championships, Horner declined to comment.
“Year one was tough for him because he did not have an assistant coach and he came in a month into school starting,” said Suhanitski. “He got thrown into things and it was hard for him to organize two teams by himself.”
Last season, the men’s and women’s teams often practiced at the same time. Due to this, there were instances when Horner coached the women’s practice and the men’s team did not have a coach present. In Horner’s absence—especially during indoor practices—training sessions often became disorganized, with too much down time.
In year two, Horner now has an assistant coach. Kitsa Scime—the all-time career singles winning percentage leader at Daemen University—has provided Horner with some much needed support. The hire of Scime ensured that the men’s and women’s teams have a coach present at practice.
“[Scime] has helped him a lot with organization, booking the courts, as well as training,” said graduate student Jose Catala. “[Having an assistant] has allowed coach Horner to focus even more on training.”
Horner’s players have reaped the benefits of his increased presence at practice. The Red Foxes finished with the second most all-MAAC selections (six), headlined by Catala’s nomination to the singles first team. The graduate student recorded nine wins in dual matches and accumulated an overall record of 13-7.
With a full offseason to prepare for the 2025-26 season, Horner brought in four players, including two freshmen and two transfers. Freshman Alejandro Abella Fernandez earned second team all-MAAC honors in singles, while junior Thomas Bevan earned first-team all-MAAC in doubles in his debut season at Marist alongside Suhanitski.
The pairing of Bevan and Suhanitski took some time to find, but it has paid dividends for Marist. The tandem has played in the No. 1 doubles spot for the Red Foxes; they posted a 13-3 record in dual matches, while going 14-4 overall.
“There was a lot of switching around going on,” said Suhanitski. “Sometimes I played with Jose, sometimes I would play with Ian [Layton]. There was one time where I played with Tom and it just clicked. We are both high energy on the court and I think our games complement each other.”
While Abella Fernandez and Bevan made immediate impacts as newcomers, the returners also showed growth on and off the court. Sophomores Anirudh Nallaparaju and Ian Layton were named to the all-MAAC second and third teams in singles, respectively. Sophomores Gregor Heinemann and Fateh Singh did not receive all-conference honors, but their improvement from their freshman seasons is evident.
“A lot of times, freshmen come in and think, ‘I want to play number one, I want to play my best tennis, I need to win,’” Catala said. “Now, I feel like it is more about the team than themselves; that’s what makes them play so much better.”
Catala pointed to a lack of energy and commitment as reasons for the team’s demise a season ago. Although last year’s group was seasoned-–four of the nine players were seniors—energy remained lackluster. Catala questioned whether or not the upperclassmen were bought into winning at all costs.
“We had a lot of older guys last year and they were very low energy,” Catala said. “They did not really want to fight, but I feel like the freshmen have so much energy in every training and every single match.”
“[The underclassmen] truly care about the team,” Suhanitski added. “In the past, sometimes guys weren’t fully bought in.”
This season, Catala and Suhanitski have made a concerted effort to improve team camaraderie. The team enjoys eating sushi and watching the UFC and NBA together; these team gatherings rarely occurred last season.
A rejuvenated group with a shared mentality, the Red Foxes enter the MAAC Championships as the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2014. Marist will look to complete the revitalization of their historically great program at 1 p.m. against No. 4 seed Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers.
Edited by Max Rosen
Photo from Quinn DiFiore
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.