CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Brandeis men's tennis team wrapped up the fall portion of their 2016-17 campaign with the competitive MIT Invitational over the weekend. Senior Michael Arguello (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) continued his terrific campaign with another run to the semifinals, while the rest of the squad turned in some quality results as well.
"This was a great conclusion to fall season," commented head coach Ben Lamanna. "We competed at the highest level against top competition in the region and nation."
Arguello, a finalist for the ITA Regional title two weeks earlier, was the top seed in the tournament. After rolling to wins over Brach from Middlebury (6-1, 6-3) and Jordan Sadowsky of Williams (6-2, 6-4) in the first two rounds, Arguello faced a series of three-set matches. In the round of 16 against Owens of Amherst, Arguello won the first set, 6-2, then fell in the second, 3-6. The third set was a tense affair, going to a tiebreaker, where Arguello claimed a 7-5 victory to move on to the quarters.
In the quarterfinals, Arguello again met a player from Williams, Alex Taylor. Both players won a set via tiebreaker, with Taylor taking the first and Arguello the second. The Judge senior pulled away in the third set, breaking the Eph rookie three times en route to a 6-0 win and a berth in the semifinals.
In the semis, Arguello met Grant Urkin of defending Division III champs Bowdoin. Despite being the only player on the weekend to take a set from the Polar Bear, Arguello dropped a 4-6, 6-1, 1-6 decision.
Brandeis had two other singles players reach the round of 16. Senior Brian Granoff (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) was in the same quarter of the draw as Arguello. He defeated seeded Rohan Gupte of Tufts easily, 6-1, 6-1, then knocked J. Samson of Wesleyan, 7-5, 6-4, in the second round. In the Sweet 16, he dropped a tight match to Taylor of Williams, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Sophomore Tyler Ng (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck South) topped Christopher Yu of Williams, 7-5, 6-4, in the opening round, then stunned Zach Bessette of Amherst in three, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Urkin got the best of Ng in the round of 16, 6-1, 6-0.
Other first-round winners for the Judges were senior Ryan Bunis (Cincinnati, Ohio/Groton-Dunstable, Mass.) who edged B. Lilley of host MIT, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; sophomore Zach Cihlar (Phoenix, Ariz. / Brophy College Prep.) who took out B. Biswas of Tufts, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; and rookie Mitchell Ostrovsky (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Leon M Goldstein) who edged A. Jackson of Middlebury, 6-0, 7-6 (7-2). Ostrovsky also pushed MIT's top player in the second round before falling, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6.
The Judges picked up a pair of opening-round wins in doubles action as well. Cihlar and Kogan defeated a Williams pair, 8-5, before falling to the top seeds from Middlebury, 8-4. Arguello and Bunis topple a squad from Amherst, 8-6, before falling to a team from Wesleyan, 8-5.