Houghton Advances to E8 Title Match After 5-0 Win over St. John Fisher
HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Houghton men's tennis will be playing for their first conference title after defeating St. John Fisher, 5-0, in the Empire 8 Men's Tennis Tournament semifinals Friday in the Kerr-Pegula Field House.
The second seeded Highlanders will take on top-seed Stevens Institute of Technology at 2 p.m. in Houghton. The Ducks defeated #4 Hartwick, 5-0, in Friday's other semifinal.
Against the Cardinals, Houghton swept the doubles matches, 8-3, 8-5, 8-4. A large home contingent of fans helped spur on the Highlanders, especially the first doubles tandem of
Jordan Crouch and
Zach Shilvock. The inspired duo were able to avenge an earlier season loss to the same pair from St. John Fisher.
Moving on to singles,
Louis-Guillaume Garcia got the first win for Houghton when his opponent, Kevin Kulawiec, was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury. Kulawiec was ahead 2-1 in the first set at the time.
That win in first singles moved the hosts to within one of the victory, and
Zach Shilvock was more than willing to clinch it for the Highlanders. The junior took a 6-0, 6-0 win in second singles. The other four singles matches went unfinished, but Houghton was ahead in each.
"Our crowd was awesome tonight. The way they came and supported our team was so much fun," said Head Coach
Matthew Webb. "Honestly, I was worried about tonight as I was afraid our guys were looking past Fisher and anticipating a final berth. All week I stressed focusing on Fisher and not talking about Stevens.
"
Jordan Crouch was fantastic today, especially in doubles. When we played Fisher last time, first doubles was our only loss, so to beat them today as the first doubles match to finish, set the tone and gave us the momentum to finish it. We are looking forward to the challenge of playing Stevens tomorrow. To play in a championship match on our home court is exactly where we want to be."
Houghton will be trying to get its first win against Stevens since joining the E8. The Ducks, who beat the Highlanders 9-0 earlier this season, have won the last eight E8 titles and nine of the last 10. Stevens defeated Houghton, 5-0, in last season's E8 semifinal.