WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Brandeis women's tennis team, ranked No. 27 in Division III closed out their regular season today with a 6-3 win over rival NYU. The Judges improved to 10-8 with the win, while the Violets fall to 4-4.
Brandeis took a 2-1 lead after doubles action. They won the first two matches, with senior Carley Cooke (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) and rookie Haley Cohen (Cherry Hill, N.J./Laurel Springs) taking an 8-3 decision at No. 1. Rookie Charlotte Aaron (Phoenix, Ariz./Arcadia) and junior Sarita Biswas (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) were 8-5 winners at No. 3. The Violets took a point at No. 2, where Madeline King and Mari Tzakis edged senior Dylan Schlesinger (Miami, Fla./Palmetto) and junior Maya Vasser (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle), 9-7.
The Judges moved within a point of victory with a pair of quick singles wins by rookies. Cohen at No. 2 and Aaron at No. 6 won by identical 6-3, 6-2 scores to make it 4-1. NYU's King kept the visitors alive with a 6-3, 6-1, win at No. 4.
The final three matches went three sets. Vasser got the clinching point at No. 5 singles, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. NYU's final point came at No. 3, where Laila El Dessouki came from a set down for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 triumph. The final match of the day saw Brandeis senior All-American Cooke outlast Carmen Lai of NYU in a three-hour match that was decided in a tiebreaker. Lai won the first set, 6-3, but Cooke answered with a 6-2 win in the second. After the two went 12 games deadlocked at 6-6 in the third, Cooke won the tiebreaker, 7-5, to clinch the match.
Before the match, Brandeis honored its three seniors, Cooke, Schlesinger and Simone Vandroff (Moss Beach, Calif./Half Moon Bay) who made the final home appearance of their career. The Judges head to Florida next week for the UAA tournament.