HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Russell Sage College continued its best start since 2019 with Saturday's 6-3 Empire 8 Conference victory at Houghton.

The Gators (5-1/3-0 E8) took the doubles portion of the day with wins from their top two pairings: Emma Nuzzi (Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake), a grad student, and junior Tirzah Spivey (Clifton Park, NY/Schenectady) (8-1 at number one) and freshmen Olivia Monaco (Campbell Hall, NY/Washingtonville) and Marian Aguirre (Plano, TX/Plano), (8-0 at number two).

Aguirre, the two-time E8 Player of the Week, swept the top singles match, 6-0, 6-0. The rookie, now 13-0 overall, sports a 72 - 4 ledger at number one singles. She is 36-2 across singles E8 competition.

Spivey and Nuzzi each tallied 6-1, 6-1 wins at number two and number three singles respectively.

Senior Emma Vander Baan (Barre, MA/Quabbin Regional) rounded out the road triumph at Houghton (1-8/1-2 E8) with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 win at number six singles.

"I'm proud of the way the team battled on the road in a tough place to win," said Head Coach Michael Branche."We are going to keep building off of this momentum."

RSC is back on the courts next Saturday at Saint John Fisher.

Gator Bites: RSC got off to a 9-1 start in 2019...The Gators finished 10-4/4-2 E8 that fall...RSC has six newcomers and six returnees on this year's roster…Spivey, a two-time All-Empire 8 Conference singles selection, Nuzzi, and Vander Baan headline the returning players…Spivey finished 5-1 at first singles in league play last season…Aguirre was selected the E8 Player of the Week for the periods ending Sunday, September 8 and Sunday, September 15…The rookie started her collegiate career by going 13-0 across singles and doubles, including a 72-4 singles ledger.