EDISON, NJ – Rider University Men's Tennis Head Coach Tom Battaglia has been named MAAC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year, the league office today announced. Battaglia has led the Broncs to their first MAAC Championship appearance since all teams sponsoring the sport qualified for the tournament in 2010. The berth is Rider's first since the tournament moved to a four-team format in 2011 and the Broncs' fourth-place finish is their highest in 27 years in the league. Battaglia is also Rider's first MAAC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year, with Ed Torres taking the Women's Tennis Coach of the Year honor in 2005.

A year after posting a 3-3 mark in MAAC play and coming up on the short end of a tie-breaker for the final tournament berth, the Broncs again went 3-3 in league play this season and earned the fourth and final tournament berth outright. Battaglia has overseen wins against Niagara, Siena and Mount St. Mary's this season after guiding the Broncs to victories over perennial league contenders Fairfield and Quinnipiac last season. Under Battaglia's guidance, Rider's first two All-MAAC Men's Tennis selections were honored, with Stavros Hadjivarnava being picked to the First Team at No. 4 singles and Dhruv Tangri taking Second Team honors at No. 2 singles.

The fourth-seeded Broncs open MAAC Championship play against top-seeded Fairfield Saturday at 2 p.m. from Mercer County Park Tennis Center in West Windsor, NJ.