ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's tennis team opened its Empire 8 schedule on Saturday afternoon as they hosted Nazareth College, which resulted in a 2-7 loss on the William T. Brown Tennis Courts.
 
Lauren Boshart (Oswego, NY/Oswego) picked up both team points in her wins at No. 2 doubles with teammate, Abigail Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and No. 3 singles. Her and Call won in steady fashion, topping Lily Bulkeley and Lauren Carr, 8-3 to start the day. Boshart then had a fight at No. 3 singles against Carr and won in three sets, 6-3, 4-6 and 6-3.
 
"Lauren was really the player of the match today. She's now back to the form we're used to seeing from her," Head Coach Jordan Crouch said. "I'm so excited to see how the rest of the season goes with her confidence back up. Alex [Rossen] also played two really close matches that he would have pulled out with just a few bounces going in our favor."
 
Alex Rossen (Charlton, NY/The Darrow School) teamed with Alexis Giordano (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) at No. 3 doubles for the day's lone doubles tiebreaker, falling 7-8 (8-10). At the No. 4 spot in singles, Rossen battled Bulkeley to claim the second set before falling in the third. He dropped a 3-6 first set decision before engaging in a fierce second set, winning it, 7-6 (11-9). Rossen's match was the last competing at the end of the day as Nazareth scored its seventh team point with the 2-6 decision, not in favor of Alfred.
 
"From top to bottom, I think this is the best I've seen each player play," Coach Crouch said. "Afterwards, we talked about using the momentum of today as a springboard so that we can improve and grow for future matches. If we can do that and play at the level we played today I think we can become a dangerous team."
 
The Saxons will next continue their five-match homestand as they host Fredonia on Tuesday, September 14 at 4:00pm. It won't be until the end of the month before AU takes to the road to face SUNY Brockport on Thursday, September 23 at 4:00pm. All of their matches between now and Brockport will be non-conference and everything after will be for their Empire 8 standings.