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ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University men's tennis team (2-4, Empire 0-2) dropped an Empire 8 match to Houghton 8-1 on Wednesday afternoon, battling windy conditions at the William T. Brown Tennis Courts.
 
The Saxons fell behind early in doubles play, falling in straight order. The sophomore duo of Ryan Brown (Olean, NY) and Logan Cross (Olean, NY/Olean) fell in a hard-fought battle at #1 doubles, 5-8.
 
Houghton sealed the match after the first two singles matched came to a close, taking the lead 5-0. However, senior Peter Smock (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh) did not go down without a fight at #1 singles. He took the first set 7-5 before dropping the second 1-6. Smock eventually fell 10-5 in the set tie-breaker.
 
The Saxons took a point off the Highlanders to close the match when junior Reeder Bruffey (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post) defeated Matthew Cicero. Bruffey fell 1-6 in the first set before bouncing back to tie it up with a 6-4 win in the second set. The marathon match came to a close when Bruffey took home the set tie-breaker 10-8, giving AU its first win of the day.
 
"Today was a great challenge for us," Head Coach Jordan Crouch said. "We were dealing with some unfortunate weather and a strong Houghton team. I'm pleased with how we played, especially Reeder and Pete. I can't wait to get back to practice tomorrow."
 
The Saxons are off until next Friday when they travel to Elmira to take on the Soaring Eagles in Empire 8 play at 4PM.