REDLANDS, Calif. – The 24th-ranked Brandeis women's tennis team won the top four singles matches, but the Judges couldn't overcome a doubles sweep as they fell to 11th-ranked Redlands, 5-4. With the loss, the Judges wrap up their February trip to California with a 1-3 overall record, 1-2 on the trip. All three of Brandeis's losses have come to other nationally-ranked squads. The Bulldogs improve to 2-0 on the season.
After dropping the first two doubles matches, the Judges had a chance to pull out a point at No. 1, but UR's Julia Pollock and Natalie Etchegaray earned a late break to defeat Brandeis juniors Carley Cooke (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) and Simone Vandroff (Moss Beach, Calif./Half Moon Bay), 9-7.
Redlands wrapped up the match relatively quickly in singles action, earning 6-2, 6-2, wins at both the No. 5 and 6 positions. Cooke and Vandroff were both able to avenge their losses in singles. Cooke was a 6-1, 7-6, winner over Etchegaray, winning the tiebreaker, 7-5. Vandroff's win came after Pollack retired. The Redlands player won a 7-5 tiebreaker in the first set, but Vandroff was ahead, 2-1, in the second. The Judges also had a pair of nice three-set wins, with seniors Allyson Bernstein (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and Roberta Bergstein (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) winning at No. 2 and 4, respectively. Bernstein rallied from a set down, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, while Bergstein bounced back from a tough second set, in which she was broken three times, to earn a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 win.
The Judges return to New England for a March 1 match against Division I Bryan University in Rhode Island.
