WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Brandeis men's tennis team dropped a heartbreaker of match today, falling to visiting Tufts University, 5-4. It was the fourth 5-4 match of the season for the Judges, but their first loss. 

Brandeis (3-6) jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles action. Tufts (2-0) won the first of three matches at No. 2, but seniors Josh Jordan (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin Regional) and Steven Milo (Woodbury, N.Y./Syosset) prevailed, 8-5, at No. 1. In the final match, senior Dave Yovanoff (Eden, N.Y./Eden) and rookie Danny Lubarsky (Cleveland, Ohio/Hawken School) took a tiebreaker at No. 3, 9-8 (7-5) to give the Judges the advantage headed into singles.

In the first round of singles play, Tufts senior Andrew Lutz (Baltimore, Md./Pikesville) downed Brandeis's Mitch Krems (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Century Acad.), 6-0, 6-3, in the quickest match of the day. At No. 1 singles, Milo gave the Judges their third win with a late break in each set, 7-5, 6-4.  Third singles saw the first of three three-set matches of the day, as Jumbo rookie Nick Telkedzhiev (Plovdiv, Bulgaria/Private English School) downed Jordan, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, evening the match at 3-3.

In the second round of singles matches, Tufts sophomore Brian Tan (Orinca, Calif./Miramonte) moved the visitors within one point of victory with a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles over Lubarsky. Tan trailed in the second set, 4-2, but won the final four games to emerge with the victory. Brandeis sophomore Alec Siegel (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield), playing his first match of the season at No. 4  after spending his first eight in the sixth position, outlasted Tufts junior Austin Blau (Roslyn, N.Y./Roslyn) in three sets. Blau took the first set, 6-1, but Siegel won the next two, 6-4, 6-4. In the third set, Siegel jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but Blau won two in a row before Siegel won the match with a service break.

That left Yovanoff and Tufts rookie Rob Jacobson (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) at fifth singles. Jacobson took the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-3), but Yovanoff made an early second-set break hold up to win, 6-4. The two held serve through the first seven games of the third set before Jacobson earned a break at 15-40 to go ahead, 5-3. He went on to clinch the match on his serve at 40-15 on a service winner. 

Brandeis returns to action next Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. against cross-town rival Bentley College. The Jumbos are in California next week for five matches, starting with Chapman University on Tuesday.

Tufts University 5, Brandeis 4
Mar 16, 2013 at Waltham, Mass. (Gosman Athletic Center (Indoors))