Box Score HOUGHTON, NY – The Alfred University men's tennis team improved to 2-0 in Empire 8 play after a 6-1 victory at Houghton University on Wednesday.
 
"This was a great match for both teams," Head Coach Jake Fisler said. "It was a hard-fought win, and the overall score does not reflect how close each match was, with half of the singles matches going into third sets or third set tiebreakers. Proud of the guys and the effort they showed. This was a great opportunity to compete against a solid team."
 
In doubles play, Matthew Bittel (Wellsville, NY/Wellsville) and Josh Erickson (Falconer, NY/Falconer) set the tone for the Saxons (6-3, 2-0 Empire 8) at No. 3 with a 6-2 win. The Highlanders (3-5, 0-2 Empire 8) answered at No. 1, 6-3, but Breece Erickson (Goshen, IN/Bethany Christian) and André López Jiménez (Mexico City, Mexico/PrepaTec Esmeralda) clinched the doubles point for AU with a 6-4 victory at No. 2.
 
Momentum continued as the Saxons captured the first two singles matches. Breece [Erickson] earned straight-set wins of 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3, while Josh [Erickson] followed at No. 6 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory. Ricardo Alvarez Janik (La Orotava, Spain/Colegio Casa Azul) pushed hard at No. 1 but ultimately fell in a second set tiebreaker, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1).
 
The three other matches were competitively won in three sets by AU. Anlun Zwerver (Koog Aan De Zaan, The Netherlands/Blaise Pascal College), who played at No. 4, lost the first set, 6-3, before bouncing back with scores of 6-3, 6-1 to come out victorious. Bittel lost the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (8-6), while playing at No. 5. The senior won the second set, 6-4, followed by a 10-point tiebreak in the third, 10-4. López Jiménez started at No. 2 with a 6-3 loss in the first set. He went on to win the tiebreaker in the second, 7-6 (7-3), and eventually the third, 6-0, to seal the E8 victory for the Saxons.
 
AU will next return home to host a non-conference match against Penn College on Friday at 3:00 PM.