Tag: empire 8

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Campus News

Men’s Soccer vs. SUNY Poly

By Sadie Nakamura ('26)

At 2 p.m. this Saturday, Houghton University’s men’s soccer team will face a new opponent: SUNY Polytechnic Institute. The team is gearing up for their next home game, where they will continue pushing to secure a spot in the playoffs. 

Aidan Fish (‘25) said, “We have never played SUNY Polytech before [but] they just joined our conference and they are coming off from winning their own conference. ” 

Fish suggested that SUNY Poly might face new challenges now that they’re competing in a different league. He believes that if HU’s team sticks to their plan, there is a good chance of beating their competitor.  

The men’s soccer team has worked hard to strengthen their teamwork. Daniele Schivo (‘26), a wingback, explained that the team began this season using one formation but recently switched tactics. 

“When you change formation, you change the tactics of the game and it becomes a little more challenging for the players that are used to different styles of play.” Schivo thinks that Coach McColl’s “number one priority lately has been to help us to improve in the formation and get better as a team.”

While it took some time to adjust to the new strategy, the team started gaining momentum and sharpening their skills. Campus Activities Board athletic director and member of the women’s soccer team Aivery Shuck (‘26) has attended many of the men’s soccer games this season. 

“They are very good at using all the variability that their team has,” Shuck said. “They have a lot of different players on the team this year with different strengths. I think they are very good at utilizing every single one of [those] strengths on the team.”

Schivo echoed this sentiment. “We don’t give up easily,” he said. “We’ve faced a lot of setbacks, especially in the last two seasons and the start of this one, but throughout it all, Coach has never given up on us. We have struggled mentally and have had some challenges but we have never given up.”

The team is fighting to reach the playoffs and extend the season for graduating seniors. The upcoming game against SUNY Poly will be pivotal, potentially determining whether Houghton progresses in the competition. HU’s Director of Athletics, Dr. Matthew Webb, explained the stakes.

“To make the playoffs, you have to finish the regular season in the top eight,” Dr. Webb said. “This is a very important game for both teams, as we are both outside of the top eight right now.” He added that every win for a team counts towards three points, while a tie counts for one point. Three points could potentially determine whether HU or SUNY Poly make the playoffs.

As a senior, Fish is especially eager to extend the season. “Making the playoffs [would be] huge,” he said. “For the last two years, we missed it by one point, which was heartbreaking. I don’t want it to end. We’re guaranteed five more games, but I wouldn’t mind stretching that number for one last dance.”

The team is also hoping for strong support from the school community. Giovanni Schivo (’27), another player and Daniele’s brother said, “This game is open for anyone to come, and especially when it is at home we encourage it. We need our Houghton supporters on the bleachers. Be loud in the bleachers and cheer on the school’s team!” 

The players encourage friends and classmates to come out to Burke Field and cheer for the men’s soccer team as they fight for their spot in the Empire 8 Championships. ★

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Campus News Sports

The Return of Sports

Houghton defends against Elmira's offense in March 2 matchup. Photo courtesy of Houghton College Athletics

By Erin Maggio (’21)

With the women’s basketball team taking the court against Elmira College on March 6, the 357 day streak of no Houghton Highlander teams competing will be snapped. With the spring 2020 season being halted due to COVID-19 and the fall 2020 seasons being pushed to this spring, no teams have competed since March 10, 2020, when the men’s lacrosse team came away with a 21-12 defeat over the Keystone Giants and the women’s lacrosse team bested the Hilbert Hawks 23-4. 

With fall teams having their seasons pushed to the spring, many of them have not hit the field in well over a year, including the men’s and women’s soccer teams and women’s field hockey team, who have not played a game  in well over 450 days, since their last competitions on November 2, 2019.  

However long the drought of competition riddled with uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Houghton’s athletic conference, the Empire 8, has unrolled plans for all 23 Empire 8 sponsored sports to hold competition per their Instagram post on March 1. This arrangement includes fall, winter, and spring sports all playing in the next few months. 

“The approach to the spring seasons for all our sports has been very unique to say the least!” Houghton’s Athletic Director Matthew Webb commented. 

Some of this uniqueness comes from the fact that fall and winter team sports will be having abbreviated schedules, most playing just fellow conference teams. While normal seasons in the fall typically span nine to 10 weeks, the seasons this spring will be about four to five weeks in length. 

Another aspect of the season which differs from the past is the “opt-out” process which the Empire 8 has created because of the unique impact that the pandemic has on many teams and institutions. Teams from across the conference have had to opt out due to roster size implications, whether because of dual-sport athletes, students not returning to campuses this spring, or actual COVID related issues like positive cases and quarantine.

In terms of Houghton specifically, two teams have opted out of competition this spring. The first of these is the men’s lacrosse team, who, according to Webb, “actually initiated this response as they came to the [athletic department] with their preference to just compete internally this spring.” Webb added that there were many factors which led to this. Though they won’t be playing a full Empire 8 schedule, it is possible that they may play a few games. 

The other Houghton team opting out is the women’s basketball team. This decision rests on the fact that the team has a small roster with many dual sport athletes which makes choices limited. Rather than a full conference schedule, they will be hitting the court for three competitions, the first of which will be the aforementioned contest against the Elmira Soaring Eagles. The other two will be on March 4 and 9, against Alfred University and a rematch with Elmira College, respectively. 

More than 230 student athletes will compete for Houghton this spring. But with this opportunity comes the responsibility of strict adherence to COVID protocols to keep themselves, their teams, opponents, faculty, staff, fellow students, and community members safe. These include wearing a mask at all required times, social distancing, attending all scheduled COVID-19 tests, and participating in any necessary contact tracing. 

Along with such protocol, the conference and Houghton’s Athletic Department have taken increased measures to protect all involved. On February 16 the conference announced their plans to proceed with spring competition, along with information concerning safety measures. “The Empire 8 has adopted more robust testing standards than the NCAA guidelines for intermediate and low risk sports in the interest of student-athlete health and safety,” the press release shared. 

Chuck Mitrano, the Empire 8’s Commissioner celebrated the resumption of conference competition on Instagram; “Nothing great is achieved without persistence and teamwork. The return to athletics competition has been challenging but we are thrilled to have preserved opportunity for many of our fall and winter student-athletes. Thanks to the energy and collaborative leadership of our presidents, directors of athletics, senior woman administrators, athletic trainers, sports information directors and coaches, the day has arrived! This is truly a statement about our commitment to the Empire 8 student-athletes!” he remarked.

While no in-person attendance is allowed at intercollegiate events as per New York State guidelines, fans can follow along with most home contests through Stretch Internet and be on the lookout for live streams from opponents in the case of away games. ★

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Campus News

Spring Sports Fight for Postseason Play

Spring sports are entering their last week of regular season play. Every team faces an Empire 8 opponent, which gives them an opportunity to improve their record and a chance to squeeze into a conference playoff spot.

_DSC5742-2In the third year of their program, the men’s tennis team could ensure an Empire 8 tournament berth if they finish among the top four teams in the conference. “If we can beat Alfred and Nazareth than we have a chance of going to the conference playoffs,” said Head Coach, Charlie Ellis. Currently the team’s overall record is 9-6 and their conference record is 4-2. Last weekend, the team pulled out two stellar wins against the Hartwick Hawks and the St. John Fisher Cardinals. It was their first win over St. John Fisher since joining the Empire 8 conference three years ago. “This supporting cast daily has pushed every top player in practice and supported them in the matches,” said Ellis. “They have been sweating and fighting daily to get the entire team ready to play.” Earlier this month, Chase Rangel ’16 was named the Empire 8 Men’s Tennis Play of the Week for his victories in singles matches and double matches, with the help of his partners, ending the week of April 10. “They all get along very well and they are enjoyable to coach which is part of the reason for their success this season,” added Ellis.

The men’s baseball team’s record, unfortunately, does not reflect the hard work and small wins that they have had this season. Currently the team is 13-20 overall and 3-10 in the Empire 8 conference. However, having a fairly new team comprised of mostly freshman and transfers, incoming players have had to step up and fill big roles on the team. “We lost a lot of pitchers last year and some guys who played a big part as leaders on the team,” commented Michael Knapp ’16. Head Coach, Brian Reitnour added, “[We] are a fairly young team and my ultimate goal is to see us develop an identity that reflects our core values.” During the middle of the season, the team had a six game winning streak where they rallied from deficits to win games, but it was snapped due to a split with the Penn State-Beave Nittany Lions. On April 7, the Highlanders played for over six hours and nineteen innings against the Alfred State Pioneers. The game resulted in a split where the Pioneers won the first game 5-4 in 11 innings, and the Highlanders scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to win the second game 4-3. “This season has been better than we expected it to be” said Ethan Duryea ’18. “Collectively we have played more as a team this year than we did last year.”

Both teams have games this week and possibly next week, depending on how well they play.  The Highlanders will take on the the Stevens Ducks on their home field at 6 p.m. Friday, April 29, and at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 30. The men’s tennis team will take on the Alfred Saxons on their home  court at 4 p.m. Friday, April 29.

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News

Baseball Team Strikes Out at Inaugural Game on New Field

After two years of constant travel, the Houghton baseball team finally got a chance to play on their own field Friday, March 21, against the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford. The field, part of the new Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex, was finished in 2013 and was designed with many elements that should help the team gain an advantage over their competition.

In previous seasons, the team played their home games at Bolivar Richburg High School, about an hour away. Assistant coach Ignacio Villalobos thought the field would draw a crowd larger than just the few loyal fans that drove to home games last season.

Baseball_1“Hopefully they can get some more people out and we’ll have a home crowd which will be really cool for the team to play with,” he said. “The guys will enjoy playing at home.”

Both the team’s familiarity with the field due to practice and the fact that it is their home field is expected to be in favor of the Highlanders as the current season goes on.

Another aspect of the field that will give the Highlanders an edge on other teams would be its construction material. The field is made of turf, or artificial grass. One of the benefits of such material is immunity from weather conditions, especially rain, that often affect grass fields and cause games to be called off due to poor field conditions.

According to Michael Kerr, team captain, the field will also give the team a competitive advantage because turf allows for the game to be played at a much quicker pace. That, he says, will allow them to play to their strengths as a team. Kerr also thinks that the field will help the baseball program grow.

“The field will give future players a state-of-the-art playing surface and an awesome atmosphere to play at,” he said. “As the team grows and expands, I think Houghton can become one of the better baseball programs in the Empire 8 and Division III.”

Skip Lord, Executive Director of Athletics, thinks the current team has a promising season ahead of them. “They have exceeded my expectations as a young team,” he said. “They’ve worked really hard and are performing solid on the field.”

Both Villalobos and Lord are expecting to be middle of the pack in the Empire 8. Both men expect a few more wins than the team had in previous seasons, and Lord is hopeful that the team will be able to qualify for top playoffs for Christian schools.

Villalobos thinks the team has built a lot, not only in skills and abilities, but in size as well. One of the most helpful things for the team this season has been that they have twenty-nine players compared to the seventeen they had the first season. Kerr also thinks the team has played well together so far, but that in order to have a successful season they will need to compete at a high level.

Unfortunately, despite all these factors the baseball team was not able to win their match and lost to Pitt-Bradford with a score of 7-0.

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Stories In Focus

Faces Behind the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex

If you have walked by the Kerr-Pegula Complex construction site in the past few days, you will have noticed a great deal of work has been done on the project in the past few months. Each day progress continues to be made from the finishing touches being put on the softball field, to the more major construction underway on the field house.

Athletic_ComplexLess visible are the faces behind the project that include the contractors, architects, and construction workers from companies outside of Houghton who are working long hours in tandem to reach their goal: a completed and open-for-business athletic complex.

Harold Lord, executive director of athletics, explained that bi-weekly OACM (Owner, Architect, Construction Manager) meetings are held to keep everyone up to date on the project. Lord, who has been heavily involved in the complex during all of its stages, discussed the major progress in construction, ensuring a finished complex by this coming summer.

In addition to Lord’s involvement, Keystone Associates architect Kenneth Gay has served in the role of senior architect for the construction of the complex. In charge of the architecture, engineering, and surveying, his company has been there since the beginning stages which included meetings with the owner, selecting locations, and drawing up designs, and they will see the project through until the end.

For Gay, the Houghton community is no stranger, having his wife and daughters as both alumni and current Houghton students. During a phone interview Gay explained, “We’ve been coming to Houghton from 1983 to now, so for me to have a project at Houghton is neat; it’s a unique community.”

“In the end, Houghton is going to be proud, the donors are going to be proud, and I know that our office is going to be proud,” expressed Gay. “It’s a great project with so many elements that fit with our company.”

Mike Norton, owners’ representative from Pike Company, has also put in a lot of work on the complex. “I represent Houghton College in the project,” Norton explained. When describing his job, he explained he works as the representative of the complex. This means overseeing the site and making sure everything is being done as it is supposed to be. Apart from these responsibilities, he participates in numerous meetings discussing the complex, as well as supervising the pay schedules.

Growing up in Hornell, Norton is familiar with the area; as is Pike Company, a fifth generation, family business, located in Rochester, NY. When discussing the project with Norton he simply replied, “Every project is kind of exciting in its own little way because what it means to its owner.” “What I like about this business is when its done you can step back and say I was a part of that and it stays for many years,” said Norton.

Apart from the planning and supervising, LeChase Construction Company is responsible for the actual building of the complex. They are the general contractors, having numerous employees working long hours in often not-so-friendly weather conditions. Recently, LeChase workers have been busy putting up the steel, roofing and siding, and even beginning stages on the second floor. LeChase is also involved in the hiring of subcontractors for other work including things like electric and plumbing.

Other Houghton staff involved in the project includes Phyllis Gaerte and Jason Mucher, who aid in design; Robert Pool, vice president of student life; and Dale Wright, chief business officer.

“The Houghton team has been very focused on making sure that this building responded to a bunch of different needs and uses; not just athletics but campus wide and community wide,” said Gay. The field house will be a future home not only to athletic events, but also youth events, concerts, graduation, and many other things.

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News

Men’s Basketball to Play Against Division I

This winter break the men’s varsity basketball team will be up against a competitive rival, Radford University, in their upcoming game on Monday, December 30th. Radford, a Division I school, will be the first Division I school the team has played since their game against SUNY Buffalo in 2010. Although Houghton is currently a Division III school, athletics faculty are quick to point out that this is not necessarily a discouraging fact. “The perception that Division III is not serious is an incorrect perception,” said Skip Lord, executive director of athletics, stating that the top 15-20 schools in Division III are competitive against bottom-tier schools in Division I. “Of course, they want to bring in someone where there’s a higher probability to win,” he added, but maintained that this is still an opportunity for the men’s team.

Courtesy of houghton.edu
Courtesy of houghton.edu

The chance to play against a Division I school is considered a beneficial and constructive one. “There are a lot of reasons to go into it,” said Drew Hannan, head coach of the men’s basketball team. “Generally speaking, the reason for us to go is the opportunity to play against that level of competition. …[I]t’s an opportunity to really test yourself against a very good team, a very good program….”  Lord described it as a “unique opportunity … to play a game that you probably wouldn’t get to play otherwise.” Chris Enlow, junior and a member of the team, sees the game as an opportunity to show a moral victory to any spectators. “If we come away from it together and just stick together through it, we can sort of make a statement to the Empire 8 that ‘Hey, we can actually play basketball; don’t just look down on us,'” he said.

In addition to providing a substantial challenge to players, the college also benefits from financial compensation from competitors. The practice of scheduling “guarantee games” between a higher-ranked school and a lower-ranked one is not uncommon amongst institutions of higher education. Each game a pair of schools plays is contracted for a certain time and place and financial consideration is often included in such contracts. Talks for such a game between Radford and Houghton began last April even though the men’s team had already filled its schedule at that point. The decision to play against Radford was made in June after a space opened up.

In Houghton’s case, a “modest sum,” as Lord described, was provided to the college by Radford to cover travel and lodging expenses. As the team boasts 20 members, this allows them to travel with a bigger roster. “We’re not able to get any frills or extra stuff with it, but we are able to then travel with a bigger squad then we’d normally be able to carry,” said Hannan. In previous years, extraneous funds have been used for other team expenses. “Even if there is money left in the budget, it goes right back in the institutional kitty,” explained Lord. Added Hannan, “I know one year we were able to use the money to buy uniforms, at least partially. It’s not a huge amount that doubles our budget or anything, but it’s enough to help some.”

Occasionally upsets do happen; Houghton has won guarantee games against colleges in higher divisions before. The chance of winning is still present. Overall, players remain optimistic, albeit anxious. “[O]ur guys are excited about it,” said Hannan. “There are some nerves coming in terms of playing a team that you know is going to be extremely talented. …[G]enerally the first few minutes are very difficult in that game; then you just adjust to that style, that level of play.” “Anything can happen,” said Enlow. “Like they say in football, ‘Any given Sunday.’ Really, if we go down there and play our top game… who knows?” When asked about the possibility of an upset, he laughed. “If we end up winning, we better get a freakin’ parade when we get back here.”

 

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News

Winter Sports Begin Training for 2013 Season

As fall sports conference play comes to a close, winter sports begin their training. The men’s and women’s basketball rosters have been finalized and preseason practices have begun for the 2013 season.

Winter_SportThe men’s team has many new players on the team this year due to the loss of four starters. As of now, no captains have been named and may not be for the remainder of the season.

“We actually have guys in every class who have stepped into leadership roles, which has been fun to see,” said Coach Hannan, “Even if a freshman steps up and tries to help a senior, it has been a good dynamic.”

“I think [the start of the season] is good. We have a lot of young guys who are doing well and adjusting well,” said sophomore Brandon Camacho, “We have a lot of guys who have come back and are ready to step up and play better. It looks pretty good this year, so we will see.”

The men recently had a scrimmage against Wells College. Coach Hannan was excited for the team to play against a team that plays in a very different style.

“Ultimately, it boils down to making sure that we are better than last year, not that there was anything bad about last year, but we want to keep improving both on and off the court,” said Hannan, “Spiritually, academically, athletically we want to continue to improve each year.”

The women’s team has only six returners. There are ten new players including seven freshmen and three juniors. Senior Kristen Moose and sophomore Esther Webb have been named captains.

“We are starting off really strong. We had a really good scrimmage on Saturday and we are working well as a team,” said sophomore Maisie Pipher. “We want to be strong in the new league and beat Roberts Wesleyan.”

“It is a great group of girls this year, we got along really well together on and off the court,” said junior Hannah Fink. “I think we are all pretty focused and hard-working so it’s a good group to be a part of. Coach has been running a really good program.”

The team recently had their first scrimmage against Keuka, a strong team which was 24-4 last season with returning starters. Houghton was short a couple key players due to their involvement in other sports; yet, Mucher was pleased with their first performance.

“We have some strengths: we run the floor really well, work well together as a team, better than we did last year right from the start at this point,” said Mucher. “I think it’s because our team chemistry off the court is so strong…. The girls really enjoy each other and that really affects the team.”

Mucher noted the play of sophomore Maisie Pipher as a center and excitement for Marie to play after tearing both ACLs. Juniors Hannah Fink and Stephany Ellison and freshmen Alicia Needham, Grace Bealor, and Hannah Manwaring were noted as new players having an immediate impact.

“I think it is going to take a semester to get into things and get used to the system and the expectations,” said Mucher. “By second semester, when all we have is conference games, I think we will be ready when it comes.”

 

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News

College Golf Teams Eliminated

Due to the enrollment shortfall this year, many Houghton departments and programs have had to trim their budgets significantly. One of the cuts directly impacting students is the elimination of both the men’s and women’s golf teams.

The golf teams were informed on September 10 that their teams had been eliminated from the athletics program. “I showed up for practice on Tuesday and our coaches were waiting there… I thought that maybe a tournament had been canceled – but it was actually the entire team,” said the women’s captain Hannah Fink, junior.

GolfThe decision “came out of the blue,” according to the men’s captain, Evan Castle, junior, “Basically we had two matches and were completely into our season – nobody knew that this was going to happen – and we showed up to our practice on Tuesday and we get the news from our coach.”

According to Dr. Robert Pool, Vice President for Student Life, the reason that the teams were informed in the middle of their season was due to the unexpected drop in enrollment in the beginning of the school year. “We thought – up until the end of July – that we would have been higher [in enrollment] than what we actually came in at. So it was, to many of us, a big surprise when we got to August and realized where we were with enrollment in terms of deposits.” This required the college to make emergency cuts for this fiscal year. “We had to cut somewhere,” said Pool, “A small piece of that was in athletics.”

The elimination of the golf teams is part of a larger amount of cuts that Athletics are being asked to make. In total, Athletics were asked to cut $60,000 out of their budget this year – the golf team taking a significant percentage of that number. According to Athletics Director, Skip Lord, “In a nutshell, every area on campus has had to make hard decisions relative to budgets this fall. That included athletics. This decision, along with other significant, but less visible cuts in athletics, were carefully weighed to accomplish the goal.”

One of the factors leading Student Life and Athletics to cut golf particularly is the relatively small number of students that it will affect. Both teams have about a dozen players combined, though this number varies between the fall and spring due to several players already involved in other seasonal sports teams. Another factor influencing the decision to cut the teams is that both the coach, Thomas Kettelkamp, and the assistant coach, Richard Halberg, are already employed as faculty members – so no jobs will be cut as a result of this decision.

Houghton introduced the golf teams last year when it made the move into the Empire 8 Athletic Conference, along with introducing other sports teams such as lacrosse, tennis, and baseball. The elimination of the golf teams should not impact Houghton’s NCAA D-III or Empire 8 standing.

Coach Thomas Kettelkamp and Coach Richard Halberg both expressed their dismay at the elimination of the teams.

“Personally I am a full time faculty and will not be impacted by the decision to cut the golf program but it was very, very difficult to tell the players that we are done,” said Coach Kettelkamp. Coach Halberg echoed Kettelkamp’s statement and said that he felt, “badly about ending our relationship with a great group of students.”

According to Kettelkamp, there were three prospective students looking into enrolling at Houghton to join the college’s golf teams, but he had to write to inform them that they should “look elsewhere for a college golf program.” Additionally, he believes that no one on the golf teams is currently intending to transfer as a result of this decision, but he said “if they ask me to help facilitate transferring to another college, I will certainly do so.”

Fink and Castle both lamented that they had not been able to complete the season as captains, the first time in these positions of leadership. “I had hoped to improve our record from last year. Individually, we all wanted to get better. Basically, improve,” said Fink. Castle said, “It’s a big bummer because I spent a lot of time with my teammates and my entire summer planning for this year. And it’s gone.”

 

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Sports

Women’s Soccer Team Gears Up for Fall Season

The women’s soccer team has begun their second transitional year into NCAA Empire 8. This marks Coach David Lewis’s 22nd year coaching the lady Highlanders. Houghton alum, Katie Philips has returned as the team’s assistant coach along with Kevin Austin training the keepers.

Last year, the team was composed of 36 players. This high number was due in part to the termination of the JV soccer program. This year, the roster number remains high, but has dropped to 31. There are few overnight games this year, meaning that the whole team will travel for most of the games.

Womens_Soccer“I definitely think [having a couple less players] contributes to [doing better] because that is when we play as a team,” said junior Katherine Tomlinson, “It is a lot easier to be a team when there are less of us.”

“I like this year’s team chemistry. Not that last year’s was bad or anything, it is just really good this year,” said Lewis, “The overall team depth, the strength as we go deep into our line-up, is very good. It has improved.”

Coach Lewis highlighted senior captains, Alyssa Figueroa and Erin Miller’s play this season. The third captain, senior Amanda Zacchigna, has been injured from the start of the season, but is anticipated to contribute defensively with her recovery.

“Our bench was not as strong [last year], but our freshmen have come in and stepped it up. Our eleven seniors are holding their own on the field and giving us those wins,” said Tomlinson, “We are possessing well as a team and just working better as a team overall this season.”

“As a captain it is our job to…make sure the team is bonded on and off the field and also to continue pushing ourselves. Right now we are 3-0 and doing well, but we cannot afford to slack off,” said Miller, “So we have to maintain focus and also have fun on the field; not just be all serious all the time.”

Overall the team has a record of 4-0-0 thus far. Junior Danielle Lyndsley leads the team in total goals scored at three, while junior Stephany Ellison has the most points, shots, and assists, totaling seven, twenty-nine, and three, respectively. Senior Atalie Fite has also contributed to the attack statistics as she has stepped into the forward position this season.

Figueroa and sophomore Sarah Gabriele are noted for their defensive contribution to the team. Opposing teams have not scored against the Houghton women due to the women’s strong defense and sophomore Shawna Sprout and senior Michelle Mahoney playing in goal.

“Obviously we are still not eligible for qualifications for Empire 8, but we still want to compete with the top teams in the conference and finish with the top bracket,” said Lewis, “We want to finish with them as if it did count. We would also like to qualify for the national Christian tournament and…make a good run.”

“A goal, without a doubt, especially being a senior, is to go further than we ever have in nationals. I would love to win it,” said Miller, “Our next goal is to just continue going hard and winning each game. I would love to go undefeated this year.”

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Sports

New Tennis Teams are a Hit

Men’s and women’s tennis are welcomed this fall as the two newest teams on campus. Both teams are practicing hard as they begin their inaugural year headed by Coach Charlie Ellis.

“I have come from the corporate world of tennis club and fitness club management. My management of clubs has gone back as far as 18-20 years,” said Coach Ellis, “I feel very fortunate to be working with Skip Lord and Matthew Webb; those men have been extraordinarily supportive of me.”

Bethany Chesebro, sophomore, returns the ball to her opponent.
Bethany Chesebro, sophomore, returns the ball to her opponent.

Under Ellis’s direction, the women began their training two weeks prior to classes along with the rest of the fall athletes, while the men started training this past week. The women have competed in several matches already and are 2-3 overall. While there are thirteen women on the team, not all are able to travel for every match.

“This is a tennis team and even the ones that aren’t playing on that particular day are still important, even the ones that don’t go on the road trips,” said Coach Ellis, “This is a group of girls who have come together and they have established a relationship with each other that is unprecedented. They are extraordinarily supportive of each other to play as a team and to serve their Lord.”

“For almost all of us, it is our first time being a Houghton athlete,” said junior Molly Freihofer, “So while we have had to learn a lot, the process of forming the first women’s tennis team was something we were all excited about and have really enjoyed.”

At a tournament, six single matches are played and three doubles, each counting as one point. Thus, there is a total of nine points to be earned in a college tennis match. The winner must win five or more of those points.

The women were down 4-1 against Medaille on September 5th, but fought to win each subsequent game. The men have played one match thus far, against Penn State Behrend. It was a close competition, as the men lost 5-4.

Junior Brennen Campbell expressed the men’s goals: “To have the highest overall team GPA of Houghton Athletics, to make an impression on the opponents that we face throughout the season, and to build the Houghton tennis program to be one that will be recognized as a competitive Empire 8 program.”

Each player has come in with a different level of playing experience. While the teams are training athletically to improve and fine-tune their skills, they are also encouraging each other spiritually. The women have devotions led by chaplains and prayer partners, while the men emphasize prayer before and after they meet to compete.

“The team has been getting along really well. Everyone’s personality works together to form the disciplined team that we have this year,” said Campbell, “No matter the skill level, everyone is willing to help improve their fellow teammates.”

“They have responded very well to my coaching, my direction, as well as the understanding that we are about to embark on another journey, of Houghton tennis,” said Coach Ellis, “And we want to set a culture and footprint off the right foot. The girls and boys have responded very well to understanding the gravity of that.”