ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University men's tennis team saw its two-match win streak come to an end on a rainy and windy Sunday afternoon, falling to Nazareth by a 7-2 score in Empire 8 action from the William T. Brown Tennis Courts.
The Saxons fall to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in conference action, while Nazareth improves to 5-1, 5-1 in the Empire 8.
The Saxons received its long doubles point at No. 2. The duo of seniors
Adam Shearer (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) and
Logan Cross (Olean, NY/Olean) were in an early hole, down 5-2 to Tyler Luong and William Britton. The determined Saxons staged an impressive rally, winning five straight games to take a 6-5 lead. The teams traded points, before Shearer and Cross prevailed, winning 8-6.
At No. 1, the team of senior
Ryan Brown (Olean, NY/Olean) and first year
Isaac Little (Alfred, NY/Alfred-Almond) traded games with Nazareth's Nathan Allen and Tommy Daviau, with the Saxon pair taking a 6-5 lead. The Golden Flyer duo rallied, winning two of three to force a tiebreak. In the tie-breaking game, Allen and Daviau prevailed, eventually winning the match by an 8-7 (3) score.
At No. 3 sophomore
Wes Dennison (Almond, NY/Alfred-Almond) and first year
Sam Cohen (Brighton, NY/Brighton) tried to stage a late rally but came up short, falling to Ryan Lalik and Dominic Vito by an 8-4 score. The Golden Flyers would take a 2-1 lead into singles action.
Nazareth would win five of the six singles matches to earn the team win. Alfred earned its singles point at No. 6, as Dennison improved to 4-3 as a singles competitor with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Daviau. Two singles matches went the distance, as Little dropped a 2-6, 6-1, 3-6 decision to Isiah McMurray at No. 2 and Cross dropped a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 9-11 decision to Britton at No. 3.
"Today we not only battled Nazareth, but the elements as well," said head coach
Jordan Crouch. "Through a few weather scares we were able to get a competitive league match in against a strong Nazareth team. We had a few matches slip away that we have to learn how to win."
The Saxons will hit the road for a pair of matches in the upcoming week, starting with a visit to Houghton College for a Wednesday afternoon matchup beginning at 4:30 p.m.
