HOUGHTON, NY – The Alfred University men's tennis team defeated Houghton University, 6-1 on Wednesday evening, after having to switch sites from Alfred to the designated visitors' home indoor tennis courts in Houghton.
 
The Saxons (9-4, 4-1 Empire 8) began the evening by celebrating their four seniors, Matthew Bittel (Wellsville, NY/Wellsville), Tristan Duhan (Salamanca, NY/Salamanca), Bill Tran (Hanoi, Vietnam/Grace Christian) and Mark Ungurian (Chornomorsk, Ukraine/School #6) during Senior Day ceremonies. Shortly after, they took the doubles point with two wins over the Highlanders (4-9, 1-5 Empire 8).
 
"This was a great win on our Senior Night," Head Coach Jake Fisler said. "Super proud of the guys and the program they have helped build, and we are excited about the future thanks to the groundwork they have laid out for future generations."
 
Breece Erickson (Goshen, IN/Bethany Christian) and André López Jiménez (Mexico City, Mexico/PrepaTec Esmeralda) got things started with the early 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles and now have a nine-match doubles win streak. Ricardo Alvarez Janik (La Orotava, Spain/Colegio Casa Azul) and Anlun Zwerver (Koog Aan De Zaan, The Netherlands/Blaise Pascal College) picked up the doubles-clinching point at No. 1 with a 6-3 victory.
 
Alvarez Janik was the first singles player to wrap up, having won at the No. 1 spot, 6-1, 6-1. His doubles teammate, Zwerver was close behind, winning No. 4 singles, 6-3, 6-0 to make it a 3-0 match lead. [Breece] Erickson earned the match-clinching point at No. 3 singles, winning 7-5, 6-1.
 
Josh Erickson (Falconer, NY/Falconer) was the next Saxon to put up a team point, winning at No. 6 singles, 1-6, 6-0, 6-1. López Jiménez closed out the scoring at No. 2 singles, 4-6, 6-4 (10-7).
 
The Saxons will next host St. John Fisher University on Saturday, April 18 at 1:00pm from the Alfred University Tennis Courts in Empire 8 action.