HOUGHTON, NY -- The Alfred University men's tennis team traveled to play the Houghton Highlanders, where they would fall 7-2.

"We are headed in the right direction. This was a lot closer than the score showed. We came out to play and made them fight for every point," Head Coach Jake Fisler said, "We aren't where we want to be, but we are starting to show the hard work they have put in. It was very obvious to everyone that we aren't an Alfred team of the past. The program is growing and improving each day because the players are bought in and trust the process. The future is very bright for AU tennis."

The two wins for the Saxons on Wednesday evening came from two of the freshman bought into the program. Ricardo Alvarez Janik (La Orotava, Spain/Colegio Casa Azul) took care of business in his singles match with a 6-0 opening set sweep and fighting off a comeback with a 7-5 deciding set. 

In the final match of the evening, George K. Fearon (Union Springs, NY/Union Springs) battled back after dropping the first set 4-6. He took care of the second set 6-2 and took the third set 10-7 for his second win of the year.

There were several other close matches which just didn't fall AU's way. Bill Tran (Hanoi, Vietnam/Grace Christian) battled with Matthew Bittel (Wellsville, NY/Wellsville) in their doubles match, as did both of them in their respective singles matches.

Breece Erickson (Goshen, IN/Bethany Christian) was part of two of those close matches. He was paired alongside Alvarez Janik in his doubles match where they just fell short 8-5. He also dueled in his singles match down to the wire, forcing a third set and nearly taking it in the tiebreak. 

He and the rest of the squad will look for a quick recovery against Grove City College. The Saxons will travel and play on Friday at 4:00 p.m.