The Amherst men’s tennis team enters the fall season looking for another run at a national championship. After winning the title in the spring of 2014, the team fell short in 2015, falling in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals. The team finished at 8-0 in NESCAC play and posted a 21-6 record overall.

Senior leadership will fuel the team this year with a veteran class comprised of Benjamin Fife, Michael Solimano, Aaron Revzin, Andrew Yaraghi, Russell Einbinder, Carlos de Bracamonte and Birk Mitau, all of whom were named captains for the 2015-2016 season. This talented class sent three players (Yaraghi, Revzin and Solimano) to the NCAA Division III individual championships in the spring. The Jeffs look to use this individual success to propel the team forward in the fall.

The team graduated just three seniors and will welcome in four new first-year players.

“Like the New York Knicks, we are going to have a lot of new faces around the locker room,” Fife said. “We are excited to see how it plays out.”

A new assistant coach will also join the new first-year class. Rich Bonfiglio comes to Amherst with a wealth of prior experience in the NESCAC. He spent two years of his playing career at Middlebury before transferring to Trinity. Bonifiglio served as team captain in his senior season with the Bantams and went on to be named to the All-NESCAC team. After his playing days he continued with the Trinity program, serving as an assistant coach for three seasons. He comes to Amherst after a year assistant coaching for the Ithaca College men and women’s teams.

Bonfiglio will assist Todd Doebler, who enters his second season as the head coach of the men’s program.

The season will officially kick off on Friday, Sept. 25 at the ITA regional championships. Solimano won the singles tournament as the second seed last year, defeating opponents from NESCAC rival schools Bowdoin, Williams, Trinity and Wesleyan. Additionally, Solimano reached the finals of the doubles tournament with Revzin by his side before eventually falling to a doubles pairing from Bates.

With new energy from the first-years and veteran leadership from the seniors, the Jeffs hope to be dominant again throughout the fall season in preparation for their spring schedule.