The men’s and women’s tennis teams performed at a very high level this past weekend at the University Athletic Association championships, finishing in fifth and sixth place in the conference respectively.

Judges 4, Case 5

The women’s team dominated New York University 8-1 on Friday afternoon, but came up just short on Saturday in the fifth-place match against Case Western Reserve University by a score of 5-4.  The squad finished the regular season with an impressive 15-5 overall mark.

The Judges were ranked 19th in Division III while Case was ranked 18th, and their close rankings translated into an exciting and hard-fought battle.  On the doubles court, the team dropped two of their three matches to Case.  Haley Cohen ’18 and Sophia He ’19 were outplayed on the Number 2 court, losing by a final score of 8-4.  Brandeis did not find any better luck on the Number 1 court either, as Sabrina Ross Neergaard ’20 and Olivia Leavitt ’19 fell to their opponents by a score of 8-5.  With the team down by two from the start, Michele Lehat ’19 and Keren Khromchenko ’19 came up clutch on the Number 3 court; they displayed an outstanding amount of resilience with an 8-6 victory to put the Judges on the board.

Brandeis found more success on the singles court against Case.  Neergaard, while a rookie, proved once again that she is already an established leader on this team.  She showed her moxie with a win on the Number 1 court by a score of 7-6 (13-11), 5-7, 6-4.  Leavitt matched her doubles partner’s success with a 6-1, 6-2 victory on the Number 4 court.  Lehat was a force to be reckoned with on the Number 6 court as well, pulling off the double-bagel 6-0, 6-0 victory against her overmatched opponent.  The team showed off its depth and talent throughout the match, but was ultimately unable to come out on top.

Judges 5, Case 4

The men’s team also cruised past NYU by a score of 7-2 to advance to the fifth-place match and was able to come home with the win against Case by a final score of 5-4.  The Judges pushed their overall record to 12-7, and with the fifth-place title they recorded their highest conference finish in the last seven years.

The team continued its recent trend and was untouchable on the doubles court with a 3-0 sweep.  Michael Arguello ’17 and Ryan Bunis ’17 came away from the Number 1 court with a close 8-6 win.  On the Number 2 court, young talents Tyler Ng ’19 and David Aizenberg ’20 showed that the team is in good hands moving forward, scoring an 8-3 victory.  Brandeis continued its success on the Number 3 court with an 8-5 win by the duo of Brian Granoff ’17 and Jackson Kogan ’19.

Granoff and Ng continued their excellent play in singles action to help lead the team to the ultimate victory.  Granoff was victorious on the Number 2 court with a score of 6-2, 6-2 and Ng came away with the 6-0, 6-3 win on the Number 4 court.

Both the men’s and women’s teams have shown off their remarkable depth all year; the squads have been led by rookies and veterans alike.  Both teams will not have anything to fear when they lose graduating seniors, as they have young athletes ready to take on leadership roles.  

The men’s team will look to notch their 13th win of the year on Wednesday against Tufts University.