The Houghton Women's Tennis team clinched a nail-biting opener against Oswego St. on Tuesday afternoon. The Highlanders just pulled ahead to gain a 5-4 win.

Houghton came out strong in doubles. Aggressive net play and strategic serving earned the team a pair of 8-2 wins at first (Catie Moore & Elise Swanson) and second (Erin Haley & Tessa Brown) doubles.  The Highlanders were unable to sweep and moved into singles with a leading score of 2-1 against the Oswego Lakers. Third doubles (Alicia Cline & Maddison Soth) put up a fighting 5-8 match.

Sophomore Erin Haley rolled in singles to a 6-0, 6-1 win to gain the Highlanders a 3-1 overall lead. Senior Alicia Cline followed suit with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles. In her Houghton Women's Tennis career debut, Freshman Elise Swanson clinched the victory for the Highlanders with an impressive 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles. The Highlanders went on to drop first, fourth, and sixth singles, but took the day 5-4.

"The ladies played really well today. They came out super strong in doubles and were working the points well. They've definitely incorporated what they've been working on in practice to their match play." said Head Coach Tonya McGraner. "Even in the matches we lost, we really did play well and have a lot of positives to move forward with. And congratulations to Elise on her first college singles win, and first clinch victory!"