PITTSFORD, N.Y. — St. John Fisher men’s tennis is heading to the NCAA tournament for the first time ever, and the Cardinals are hoping to honor a coach who never got to see them hang a banner.
This season has been one to remember for St. John Fisher men’s tennis. The team posted a 12-3 record, won 11 games in a row and went unbeaten in Empire 8 play.
“I knew pretty early that this group of kids was very special,” coach Jason Byam said.
“I never thought I could say I went undefeated in a season. I never knew if I would have a season above .500,” senior Will Chubb said.
The Cardinals’ season highlight so far was, of course, punching their ticket to the dance. But when Charlie Roberts earned the last point the Cardinals needed to get to there, somebody else was atop of mind.
“I think I was thinking about Coach Steve a lot during that process. I actually have it on my arm. I wrote We Got You, Steve, because I wanted to win it for him,” Roberts said.
Steve Psaila was Fisher’s assistant coach. On March 25 of last year, during practice, he had a heart attack.
“Right when it happened, we were all in shock. I know personally, me and a couple other guys on the team ran out to go get the owner of the club and to call the police. It was scary,” Tyler Hernandez, a junior, said.
At age 65, Psaila passed away.
“Me, everyone around me was kind of in a disarray. We didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I would continue with that season or if this year I would continue with this season,” Chubb said.
But for these guys, they kept on, remembering the man who got them to Fisher in the first place. For Charlie Roberts, the Empire 8 championship hero, he didn’t know that tennis was going to be an option for him to play in college.
“But I filled out the recruiting form and Steve reached out to me. I had about two hour conversation with him, and he convinced me to come to Fisher. So, I just wanted to dedicate my entire time to playing here at Fisher for him,” Roberts said.
A stout recruiter and a better coach. For his players, he was a safe haven in a mentally-exhausting sport.
“Coach Steve could go out there and completely change your mental game,” Hernandez said. “That’s a talent that I haven’t seen in any other coach that I’ve had.”
Up until the time of his death, Psaila had never seen the program hang a banner.
“He was taking me on a tour of the athletics facilities, and he took me into the fieldhouse. And I looked up at the rafters, and I saw all of the banners for all the teams who have won E8’s and gone to the NCAAs, and I made a comment and I’m like, I don’t see a tennis one anywhere. Did they forget to hang us up or are we somewhere else? And he said no. Well, we just haven’t won yet. So, I remember telling him I was like, when I come here by the end, we’re going to have won,” Chubb said.
Psaila wasn’t there to see Chubb and Fisher make through on that promise. But Will, Tyler and Charlie have made certain that their late coach is a part of this win.
“He was on my mind through it all. I know a couple days before the match, I was like, I know none of us have said it yet, but I’m doing this for Steve. And they were like, yeah, like hundred percent,” Hernandez said.
“The only thing that was running through my mind is that we finally did it for him,” Chubb said.
The Cardinals will play The College of New Jersey in their ever NCAA tournament match on Friday in Medford, Mass.
‘We finally did it for him’: St. John Fisher tennis players dedicate historic NCAA tournament berth to late coach WHEC.com.
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