ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Golden Flyers' men's tennis team defeated Houghton 7-2 at Nazareth on Friday. With the victory, the Golden Flyers completed the season sweep of the Highlanders after downing Houghton 6-3 on April 5th. Nazareth can clinch the top seed in the West Division of the Empire 8 with a victory against Alfred (0-7 E8) on Saturday.

The Golden Flyers stand at 6-1 in Empire 8 action, which is tied with Oswego at the top of the West Division of the Empire 8. Nazareth holds the tiebreaker over Oswego in total points head-to-head with 11 compared to Oswego's 7. The West Division No. 1 seed will host the semifinals and championship in 2025. The second and third seeded East teams will play on Saturday, April 26, while the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds from the West will play on Tuesday, April 29. Full details of the championship are here.

In Friday's doubles matches, Nazareth swept all three of the contests. Max Funiciello and Griffin Bond won their match 8-5 at first doubles. The tandem of Chris Benedict and Noah Britton won 8-4 at second doubles, while Pierre Ntonga and David Tuller claimed third doubles 8-3.

In singles, Bond outlasted Houghton's Preston Tobolski 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (10-2) at first singles. Funiciello, Britton, and Benedict each won in two sets. Funiciello won 6-4, 6-0 at second singles, while Britton won 6-4, 6-2 at fourth singles. Benedict capped the victories with a 6-3, 6-4 win at sixth singles.

The Golden Flyers look to clinch the top seed in the Empire 8 West Division on Saturday when Nazareth travels to Alfred for matches starting at 1 p.m. The Golden Flyers knocked off the Saxons 8-1 on when they hosted Alfred on March 29th.