Box Score OLEAN, NY – The Alfred University men's tennis team (1-0, Empire 0-0) bounced back from a 2-1 deficit to win 5-4 against Pitt-Bradford on Friday evening.
 
The Saxons jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when sophomore Adam Shearer (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) and first year Tyler Housel dominated #3 doubles to a 7-0 victory. However, the Panthers took home wins at #1 and #2 doubles to steal the 2-1 lead following doubles play.
 
Pitt-Bradford created more space in the match when the top of their lineup earned a win at #1 singles. Junior John Papin (Rochester, NY/The Harley School) snapped the Pitt-Brad run with 6-0, 6-4 win at #2 singles, bringing the match to 3-2. Fellow junior Reeder Bruffey (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post) knotted the contest up when he battled for a 6-3, 6-4 win at #3 singles.
 
Housel earned AU the lead again, 4-3, at #6 singles, earning his first collegiate singles victory 6-0, 6-3. However, the Panthers did not back down, grabbing a win at #5 singles and tying the match up at 4-4.
 
The match came down to senior Kyle Kemper (Oswego, NY/Oswego) at #4 singles. Kemper took the first set 7-6 (8-6) and continued on to earn another tight victory 7-6 (7-2) in the. second set, lifting the Saxons to their first win of the season.
 
"Our men came out and battled right from the start," Head Coach Jordan Crouch started. Despite going down 2-1 after doubles, the team kept their heads high and fought for every single point in singles. I'm especially proud of Kyle [Kemper] for winning an incredibly tough singles match to get us the 5-4 result. I'm impressed with how we played today even though we've only had a week's worth of practice."
 
The AU men's tennis team will remain idle until the spring semester.