REDLANDS, Calif. -- The Brandeis women's tennis team, ranked No. 30 in Division III, completed a successful four-match West Coast trip today with a 5-4 upset of 28th University of Redlands. The Judges improve to 6-0 on the season, including 5-0 with two wins over ranked opponents in California on this February break trip, while the Bulldogs fall to 2-1.
The Judges' victory came down to the final match, where junior Faith Broderick (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) went to a third-set tiebreaker with UR rookie Ceara Sumida. After splitting the first two sets, 6-3 to Broderick in the first and 6-4 to Sumida in the second, the two were evenly matched in the third. Broderick eventually prevailed, 7-5, in the tiebreaker to earn the Judges' second 5-4 win on the trip.
Brandeis jumped out to a 2-1 lead by winning at the top two spots in the doubles ladder. Broderick and rookie Carley Cooke (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) won at No. 1, while senior Nina Levine (Westport, Conn./Staples) and sophomore Alexa Katz (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends) won at No. 2, both by identical 8-5 scores. The hosts got a point at No. 3 with an 8-4 win by Paige Press and Julia Galbraith.
In singles action, the Bulldogs got back into the match with wins at No. 3, 4 and 5, each in straght sets. Brandeis got two singles wins from rookies, as Simone Vandroff (Moss Beach, Calif./Half Moon Bay) won 6-1, 6-3, at No. 6 and Cooke won when Redlands' Jessica Ly retired at No. 1 after Cooke had taken a 6-3, 4-2 lead, setting up Broderick's eventual heroics.
The Judges are now off until March 9 and 10 when they take on UAA rival NYU and host Middlebury at the Middlebury Invitational.
#30 BRANDEIS 5, #28 REDLANDS 4
at Redlands, California
Singles
1. Carley Cooke (BR) def. Jessica Ly (UR), 6-3, 4-2 (ret.)
2. Faith Broderick (BR) def Ceara Sumida (UR), 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5)
3. Maddie Morton (UR) def. Allyson Bernstein (BR), 6-1,7-5
4. Paige Press (UR) def. Nina Levine (BR), 6-3,6-2
5. Julia Galbraith (UR) def. Alexa Katz (BR), 6-2,6-3
6. Simone Vandroff (BR) def. Julia Pollack (UR), 6-1,6-3
Doubles
1. Cooke/Broderick (BR) def. Ly/Morton (UR), 8-5
2. Levine/Katz (BR) def. Sumida/Pollack (UR), 8-5
3. Press/Galbraith (UR) def. Vandroff/Dylan Schlesinger (BR), 8-4
TEAM RECORDS: Brandeis, 5-0. Redlands, 2-1.