The Houghton University men's tennis Team prevailed 5-4 over Nazareth Friday afternoon to move to 9-6 overall and 6-0 in Empire 8 Conference Play. The win solidifies the regular season sweep of Nazareth and gives the Highlanders a strong opportunity to earn the #1 seed entering tournament play. The Highlanders would start the match out with some strong doubles with Jaimie Staerkle & Levi Webb cruising 8-0 at first doubles, and Micah Schilke & Marcelo Garcia taking the third flight 8-3. 

Entering singles competition, the Highlanders would need to win 3 of the 6 remaining matches to clinch the match, and they did just enough taking wins at second, fifth, and sixth singles. Micah Schilke (7-5, 6-2) and Nolan Zach (6-3, 6-2) would grab key victories at the second and fifth spots respectively. Closing out the day in the rubber match, Graham Cook would have to win at the sixth singles position to clinch the win. Playing calm and cool under pressure, Cook would lock in for an amazing 6-0, 6-1 win to seal the deal. 

"First off, what an absolutely HUGE performance from Graham Cook to close the match," Coach Zach Shilvock said post match. "It is not easy to handle the pressure of knowing the match comes down to you, and Graham not only played great, but he put on a serving clinic. Despite the close scoreline, I am thrilled at the way the team battled today in the heat. After beating Naz the first time around 8-1, I challenged the men to go out and beat them as a whole program. We did just that. Now we turn our focus to finishing the regular season out on a high note, and get to our best tennis here in post season." 

The Highlander's will get right back at it as they travel to Utica to take on the Pioneers at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 15.