#20 men's tennis rallies past #19 Bates, 5-4

Ben Wolfe '20 (photo by Jeff Lamanna)
Ben Wolfe '20 (photo by Jeff Lamanna)

WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University men's tennis sophomore Benjamin Wolfe (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) completed a comeback for the Judges as they knocked off Bates College, 5-4, in a marathon match in the Gosman Athletic Center. The Judges, ranked 20th in Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) improve to 4-1 on the season, while the 19th-ranked Bobcats fall to 2-2.

The Judges were bolstered by the lower parts of their lineup in both singles and doubles in the win, which took six hours and 45 minutes.

In double action, the Judges' No. 1 squad of sophomore David Aizenberg (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) and rookie Anupreeth Coramutla (Monroe Township, N.J./Phillips Andover) suffered their first dual-match defeat of the season, 8-4, to Bates's Ben Rosen and Jacob Kauppila. The Judges earned an 8-3 win at No. 2 from juniors Jackson Kogan (Pacific Palisades, Calif. / Windward School) and Tyler Ng (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck South) At the No. 3 slot, rookies Nikhil Das (Smithfield, R.I./Moses Brown School) and Rajan Vohra (Glen Head, N.Y./North Shore) outlasted the Bobcats' Duane Davis and Vidyut Yadav, 9-8, winning the tiebreaker, 9-7.

Trailing 2-1, the Bobcats quickly went ahead in early singles action. Rosen dispatched Kogan, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 1, and Kauppila defeated Ng, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 3. The visitors completed the sweep of the first three singles matches thanks to a late break of serve in the third set by Josh Quijano against Aizenberg. With the 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, win at No. 2, Bates took a 4-2 lead.

While Aizenberg went to his third set, Vohra and Das both clinched their first sets at Nos. 4 and 5 respectively. Das bested Yadav, 6-1, 6-4, at No.5, and Vohra was a 6-4, 6-4 winner at No. 4 to even the match at 4-4.

At No. 6, Wolfe fell behind the Bobcats' Alex Kennedy after the first set went to a tiebreaker, which Kennedy won, 7-6 (7-4). Wolfe rallied to win his fourth consecutive three-set match by taking the final two sets, 6-2, 6-2. In three of those four three-setters, Wolfe has come from a set down for victory.

The 5-4 triumph by the Judges was the second in three years over the Bobcats. The last three meetings between the two schools in Waltham have all been decided by a 5-4 score.

Brandeis returns to action on Friday, March 9, against RPI. Bates plays their first home match in their NESCAC opener against Hamilton College next Saturday, March 10.