ROCHESTER, NY – The Alfred University men's tennis team (7-5, Empire 4-3) earned a berth to the Empire 8 Conference Championship tournament for the first time since 2006 after defeating Nazareth College 5-4 on the road Saturday afternoon. First-year Head Coach Jordan Crouch has led both the AU men's and women's tennis teams to the Empire 8 tournament during 2018-19.
 
AU men's tennis rebounded after falling behind 2-1 in doubles play to seal a 5-4 victory over Nazareth College on Saturday. Seniors Peter Smock (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh) and Kyle Kemper (Oswego, NY/Oswego) led the way for the Saxons, earning a win at #2 doubles and winning their respective singles matches. The Saxons had not reached the Empire 8 tournament since 2006.
 
The Saxons jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Smock and Kemper won at #2 doubles. However, #1 and #3 doubles fell in order, giving the Golden Flyers the lead heading into singles play.
 
However, AU rattled off four consecutive wins to seal the 5-4 victory over Nazareth. Smock took his match at #1 singles 6-1, 6-1 before sophomore Logan Cross (Olean, NY/Olean) took #2 singles 6-3, 6-3. His high school teammate, Ryan Brown (Olean, NY/Olean) followed suit to give AU the lead 3-2 with a 6-4, 6-1 win at #3 singles. Kemper put a bow on the match when he took #4 singles in a nail-biter 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (6-1). The final two matches fell in Nazareth's favor, but the effort was too-little-too-late as the Saxons earned the berth to the Empire 8 tournament.
 
"Congratulations to our guys for being the first men's tennis team in 13 years to get to the postseason tournament," Crouch said. "I am so proud of this team and what we've done thus far. I can't wait for practice on Monday to prepare for next weekend."
 
The Saxons enter the Empire 8 tournament at the fourth seed and will square off with the regular season champions, Houghton College – Crouch's alma mater. The tournament will be hosted by St. John Fisher College as a predetermined site entering the season on May 3-4 in Rochester, NY. The Saxons are 1-4 in Empire 8 tournament matches, earning a win over Hartwick 5-2 in 2005.