HOUGHTON, NY – For the first time since the 2004 season, the Alfred University women's tennis team has been crowned as Empire 8 Champions following a 5-3 win over #4 St. John Fisher University on Saturday.

Following the Empire 8 Championship, Alfred University named Elizabeth Madsen (Portland, OR/Grant) as the Tournament MVP. Alexis Giordano (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) was recognized as the Tournament's Torchbearer Award recipient.

"LETS GO SAXONS," Head Coach Jordan Crouch said. "I am so proud of this team. We are fighters and have been all year long. I told them on the first day of preseason that this was a possibility, but we had to work harder than we ever have. The team responded to that, and we put together a truly incredible season. Yesterday, gutting out that match and then responding to the Finals and playing our best tennis of the year is the thing of dreams. I'm in disbelief. A special shoutout to our seniors for all that they have done. I told them that we could be fighting for titles years ago when times were a little tougher. They listened, bought in, and here we are! The energy was incredible today – our fans were all over the facility and I know our team felt that support. Congratulations to Liz for receiving the Tournament MVP and to Lex on getting the Torchbearer Award. I am so proud of all their efforts and couldn't be more thrilled."

Macy Youngberg (Falconer, NY/Falconer Central) and Alina Zabihailo (Kyiv, Ukraine/Educational Complex #143) were the first to record a win for the Saxons following an 8-2 victory from No. 1 doubles. Abigail Call (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Madsen quickly followed up with an 8-2 win from No. 2 doubles to give AU the 2-1 advantage.

In singles action, Allison Windisch (Pittsford, NY/Sutherland) rounded out her impressive tournament run with a 6-3, 6-1 win from the No. 6 position. Madsen remained perfect on the afternoon thanks to a 6-3, 6-1 victory from No. 4 singles to put Alfred University in a promising position.

With St. John Fisher cutting their deficit, the Saxons clinched the Empire 8 title thanks to a competitive 6-4, 6-3 victory from Call.

"Thank you so much to Deb, Erin, Ron, Letti, Dup, Boz, and Devon," Crouch said. "Their support this year has been incredible, and we couldn't have done this without them.