The MAC Tournament is something this year’s men’s tennis team is no stranger to.

With four players from their 2012 run and five from their 2013 run still on board, the Huskies have a lot of experience in the tournament. The players have shared the joys of the team’s success but have also shared heartbreak, particularly during their recent tournament losses.

“I know they all remember it,” said head coach Patrick Fisher. “It hurts. We have a good core of that team left. Our guys remember it, and that is what this year is about: to get to the finals and be one point better.”

In 2012, the Huskies lost in the semi-finals to Western Michigan, 4-3. In 2013, they made it all the way to the finals but lost, 4-3, to Western Michigan. Both losses were by a single point.

With the fuel of two close tournament losses and the growth of the team, the Huskies are about to finish out a successful regular season. With one game left to go, the Huskies are 17-5 overall and 3-0 in the MAC.

The Huskies have claimed at least a share of the regular season championship and are looking at the top seed entering the MAC Tournament at the end of this month.

Even with the success, the trepidation of the previous two years is still in the back of their minds.

“I know what it feels like to lose in the final of the MAC Tournament now,” said junior Frederic Cadieux. “It is something that I will give all I’ve got to make it not happen again.”

The players refuse to let the losses affect them negatively, instead using it as fuel.

“The pain from last year will be turned into something positive,” Cadieux said. “It will make me want to win the MAC more than everyone.”

The Huskies have put themselves in a position to return to where they have been the previous two years and win. Fisher isn’t ready to say the team has learned from its mistakes just yet.

“We’ll have to wait,” Fisher said. “If we win, we will be able to say we learned from it. If we lose, then we didn’t. It’s a wait-and-see question.”