HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Houghton men's tennis registered its 44th consecutive regular season win in the Empire 8, taking a 7-2 decision over Alfred on Wednesday at the Kerr-Pegula Field House.

The Highlanders swept the three doubles matches, with the tandems of Graham Cook and Nolan Zach (8-5), Preston Tobolski and Samuel Garay (8-2) and Jason Murphy and Isaac Anderson (8-1) earning the wins.

In singles, Houghton got wins in the second, third, fourth and fifth matches.

"It feels great to get that first conference win under our belts. We started off with strong play in doubles and that really helped set the tone of the match for us," said Head Coach Jordan Crouch. "I think our team battled on every single point and I am proud of that effort.

"A couple matches didn't go our way but there was no denying the effort up and down our lineup. Alfred's got some talent and it was a good test for us. Graham really had to fight in his match to come out on top. Isaac battled very hard but ultimately fell in a tiebreaker. Nolan's match was so much fun to watch. I'm proud of his resolve in the second set. Preston, Sam, and Jason all took care of business in fairly straightforward wins: Tomorrow we're going to get back to practice and get after it so we can prepare for Nazareth on Saturday. Let's go Highlanders!"

Houghton returns to E8 play when they host Nazareth on Saturday at 1 p.m.