ALFRED, NY – Sophomore Wes Dennison (Almond, NY/Alfred-Almond) played a hand in both points for the Alfred University men's tennis team, as the Saxons dropped an Empire 8 match to county rival Houghton, from the William T. Brown Tennis Courts Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Saxons drop to 0-4, 0-2 in Empire 8 action. Houghton improves to 3-3, remaining undefeated in Empire 8 play at 3-0.
 
Dennison picked up a point in both singles and doubles to lead the Saxons. The sophomore put up a fight at sixth singles against Ben McKay. After dropping the first set by a 6-1 score, Dennison came back with a 6-2 set two win, before earning the victory in the tie-breaking third set by a 10-4 score. Teaming up with doubles partner, first year Sam Cohen (Brighton, NY/Brighton), Dennison and Cohen survived in third doubles against Houghton's Matthew Cicero and Adam Brown. With the score tied at seven, Cohen and Dennison swept the tiebreak 7-0, completing the 8-7 (7-0) victory.
 
Three other singles matches went the distance in what was a close match between the two teams. At the top singles spot, senior Logan Cross (Olean, NY/Olean) took the first set, before dropping the next two in a 6-4, 2-6, 1-6 defeat to Ethan Yung. At third singles, first year Isaac Little (Alfred, NY/Alfred-Almond) also took the first set but fell in a tightly contested second and third sets, falling to Micah Schilke by a 7-5, 6-7 (7), 11-13 score. At fifth singles, senior Adam Shearer (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) dropped the first set to Micah Christensen but rallied to take the second set by a thin margin. He would fall in the tie-breaking third set, as Christensen would eventually win the match by a 6-4, 5-7, 13-11 score.
 
"It was a great match today, despite the final score," said head coach Jordan Crouch. "It was a battle from start to finish, and I think I can say that this final score is a bit misleading. Our Saxons played incredibly well today and held their own against one of the top teams in the conference. I'm proud of how we handled ourselves and I'm excited to see how we develop from the lessons learned today. On to Fisher on Friday!"
 
The Saxons will host St. John Fisher College on Friday from the William T. Brown Tennis Courts in a 4 p.m. start. The match will be moved to Elmira, N.Y. if inclement weather threatens the region.