Houghton College won a pair of extremely important victories at home on Saturday. The two wins ensure the ladies take the No. 4 seed in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament, set to start Tuesday March 30th.
In the first match of the day, the Houghton women built off their win against Sage last week, handing Alfred University a 7-0 defeat. With Alfred only having 3 competing players, Houghton's 5 player game day roster started the match with an early 3-0 lead in a best of 7 contest.
Houghton came out strong right from the start with Erin Haley and Elise Swanson taking the 1st doubles position 8-2. The team would then continue their strong play right into the singles action. Elise Swanson took the 1st spot 8-3, Erin Haley 8-2 at 2nd singles, and Chloe Esch would edge her opponent 8-3 at 3rd.
"The girls played loose and confident today!" Coach McGraner said after the match. "One doubles played really aggressive and took control of their match early on. The ladies did an excellent job dictating play in singles too."
In the second match of the day, Houghton took on Hartwick College, who had just edged out Alfred hours early for a spot in the E8 Tournament. The ladies finished their regular season off strong with a 5-2 win over Hartwick. Coming off their win against Alfred earlier in the day, the Highlanders knew a win would guarantee the 4th seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Conference Tournament.
To start off the match, the first doubles pair of Erin Haley and Elise Swanson battled hard but fell to a big hitting Hartwick pair 8-4. Going into singles with a 3-1 advantage because of defaults, Houghton only needed one more win to secure the overall victory. The Highlanders got just that as Chloe Esch dictated play and won 8-1 at the 3rd singles spot. At the 2nd spot Elise Swanson, who bounced between tennis matches and a softball game, edged her opponent 8-5 for an additional Highlander win. At the 1st spot, Erin Haley fought extremely hard but came up short 8-5 to close out the day.
"The girls played great today," Head Coach McGraner emphasized after the match. "Hartwick had some really good players, and this weekend was very important for us. We knew it would be tough, especially with all the teams playing down girls. The ladies came out and showed that we are a solid competitor in the Empire 8 this spring."
Houghton will now enter post season play at the 4th seed where they will take on the 5th seed Sage Gators at home on Tuesday!
