HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Just two days after claiming their first Empire 8 Tournament title, Houghton men's tennis has learned they are taking home more hardware, as all-conference voting by the E8 head coaches was announced Tuesday.

Houghton swept the top conference awards with Ethan Yung being named Empire 8 Player of the Year, Levi Webb earning E8 Rookie of the Year and Tonya McGraner taking home E8 Coach of the Year honors.

The Highlanders had five student-athletes named Empire 8 First Team All-Conference, while two were named All-E8 Second Team.

Yung earned first team honors in singles and doubles. He recorded a perfect 8-0 record at first singles and an 8-0 mark with Webb at second doubles during Empire 8 regular season play. Yung won both singles and doubles matches in the E8 Tournament as well. Overall, Yung enters the NCAA Championship with an 11-2 mark in singles and is 10-0 with Webb in doubles play.

Webb was named first team in doubles and second team in singles as he captured Rookie of the Year honors. He was 4-1 in league play at the fifth singles position, while partnering with Yung for a perfect 8-0 mark at second doubles during Empire 8 regular season play. The duo won both doubles matches in the E8 Tournament as well.
 

McGraner was named 2021 Empire 8 Coach of the Year after leading Houghton to its first Empire 8 Championship. The Highlanders went 8-0 overall in league play, before defeating Alfred and Nazareth in the Empire 8 Tournament to claim the title and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship, which begins this weekend. It is McGraner's second straight Men's Tennis Coach of the Year award.

Jake Fisler, Micah Schilke and Matt Cicero were Houghton's other first team selections in singles. Fisler earned first team honors in singles after going 8-0 in the regular season E8 play and winning both of his singles matches in the E8 tournament. Schilke was 8-0 at third singles during the E8 regular season and won his tournament singles match against Nazareth. Schilke and Fisler also earned first team doubles honors after teaming together for a perfect 8-0 regular season conference record at first doubles before splitting their two post-season matches

Cicero was 7-1 at fourth singles during the E8 regular season. He claimed the decisive point in the E8 Championship to earn Tournament MVP honors on Sunday.

Ben McKay and Adam Brown teamed up to earn second team honors in doubles. The tandem went 5-1 when paired together at third doubles during the regular season and split their two post-season matches.

In addition, Ben McKay was named Houghton's representative on the 2021 Empire 8 Men's Tennis Sportsman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.

Read the full release from the Empire 8.