ELMIRA, NY – First year Sam Cohen (Brighton, NY/Brighton) earned his first collegiate victory in doubles, earning a team point for the Alfred University men's tennis team in a 7-2 loss to St. John Fisher College, in Empire 8 action at Elmira's Murray Athletic Center Friday afternoon.
 
The Saxons fall to 0-5 overall on the season (0-3 Empire 8). The Cardinals win their first match of the season, improving to 1-3 overall (1-2 Empire 8).
 
Cohen, teaming up with sophomore Wes Dennison (Almond, NY/Alfred-Almond) at third doubles, defeated the Fisher duo of Jon Sutherland and Anthony Molosag by an 8-5 score. The first doubles team of senior Logan Cross (Olean, NY/Olean) and first year Isaac Little (Alfred, NY/Alfred-Almond) as well as the second doubles team of seniors Ryan Brown (Olean, NY/Olean) and Adam Shearer (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) each fell by an 8-3 score, as the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead into singles play.
 
Fisher took a 4-1 team lead after victories at first and fourth singles. At the top spot, Brown took the first set against Sean Danahy, before dropping the next two sets, including a tiebreak on the third set, as Danahy earned a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2) victory. Little, playing at second singles for the first time, faced a challenge from Kyle Gorman, dropping the first set by a 6-1 score. Undeterred, the rookie stormed back in a big way, dominating the final two sets in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory.
 
Two other matches went the distance, with Fisher winning both matches. At No. 3, Cohen dropped a grueling first set to Cameron Campbell but briefly recovered, taking the second. Campbell was able to pull out the third set, winning the match by a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4 score. In the final match of the afternoon, Dennison dropped the first set to Molosag, but like Cohen and Little, rallied to take the second. Molosag would eventually outlast Dennison by a narrow margin, winning 6-4, 2-6, 10-8.
 
Fisher clinched the team victory after Andrew Cegielski earned a 6-0, 6-0 victory over senior Michael Ross (Rushville, NY/Marcus Whitman) at sixth singles, with Ross making his season debut.
 
"It's really great to see how our players improve with every match," said assistant coach Tori Pellegrino '21. "We had a number of close matches go the other way, so this will serve as a learning experience for us, especially our underclassmen. We will definitely take those lessons learned into our next match with them later in the season."
 
The Saxons will travel east for their next match, visiting Utica on Sunday, April 18 for a 1 p.m. start.