Box Score

ALFRED, NY -- The Alfred University women's tennis team met with the newest addition to the Empire 8 Athletic Conference on Sunday afternoon but came up short with a 2-7 loss on the William T. Brown Tennis Courts.

The Saxons (0-4, 0-3 Empire 8) scored in both doubles and singles. The No. 1 doubles pair of sophomores Tori Pellegrino (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Miranda Sakala (Olean, NY/Olean) defeated Sage's Sammantha Montague and Rebecca Jackson, 8-4 as they were the last doubles match being played before singles. "Tori and Miranda played very well," head coach Mike Graham said. "They stayed aggressive at the net and on return of service."

Sophomore Amber Smith (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh Central) earned Alfred University's lone singles win at the No. 6 spot against the Gators' Samantha Dibbell. Smith defeated Dibbell 6-2, 6-1. "Amber played fantastic at the sixth singles position," Graham said. "She got her first singles win as a collegiate player."

Two other singles performances that were notable on Sunday afternoon were No. 2 singles with junior Inda Gillett (South Kortright, NY/Delaware Academy Central) falling to Abbey Clobridge 6-7(4), 5-7 and senior No. 5 singles player Beryl Torthe (Pretoria, South Africa/St. Mary's Diocesan-South Africa) taking Lindsey Toman to three sets but falling 6-4, 2-6, 2-6.

The Saxons will next take to the road for a four-match away series featuring two non-conference and two conference matches. First, they take on Fredonia on Tuesday, September 12 at 4pm. Then, they head to SUNY Cortland for a 4pm start on Friday, September 15. They end the road series with two Empire 8 matches at Utica College on Saturday, September 16 and at Elmira College on Saturday, September 23 with both matches starting at 1pm.