WALTHAM, Mass. – The ninth-ranked Brandeis men's tennis team opened up a 3-0 lead after doubles, but the visiting 16th-ranked Denison University rallied to win five straight singles matches as the Big Red pulled a 5-4 upset of the Judges in the Cordish Tennis Center.
Brandeis started strong. Seniors Jeffrey Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) and Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) knocked of Denison's Jack Bulger and Marc Lennart-Harms, 8-2, at #1 doubles. First-year Colin Fox (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) and sophomore Dylan Walters (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School) took an 8-4 win at #2 against Tim Cianciola and Colin Gramley. Senior Colt Tegtmeier (Madison, Wisc./James Madison Memorial) and junior Simon Kauppila (Chesterfield, Mo./Marquette) completed the sweep with a pair of late breaks for an 8-6 win at #3 against Andy Mackler and Milan Gonela.
Denison started their comeback at #5 singles when Ryan Patrick knocked off Tegtmeier, 6-1,6-3. Mackler defeated Walters, 6-4, 6-1, at #4 to get the Big Red within 4-2. Cianciola defeated Chen at #1, 6-2, 6-4, and Blake Eason defeated Kauppila, 6-4, 6-4, to tie the score at 3-3.
Milan Gonela put the visitors ahead after a tight match with Kauppila at #6, taking a 6-4, 6-4, win. Bulger then avenged his doubles loss to Chen with a 7-5, 6-2, win at #2 that clinched victory for Denison. In the final match of the day, Fox outlasted Lennart-Harms, 1-6, 6-4, 10-8, at #3.
With the loss, the Judges fall to 6-3 on the season, while Denison improves to 7-1. The Judges take on University Athletic Association rivals Rochester tomorrow at 2 PM.