ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- The Brandeis University women's tennis team finished the 2015 season in sixth place at the University Athletic Association championships this weekend. The 27th-ranked Judges defeated Rochester, 8-1, in the consolation semifinals, but fell to #21 Case Western Reserve by the same score in the fifth-place match. The Judges close the season with an 11-10 record.
Against Rochester, Brandeis led, 2-1 after doubles action. Senior Carley Cooke (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) and rookie Haley Cohen (Cherry Hill, N.J./Laurel Springs) were 8-4 winners at No. 1, while junior Sarita Biswas (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) and rookie Charlotte Aaron (Phoenix, Ariz./Arcadia) were 8-2 winners at No. 3. The Yellowjackets picked up their only win at No. 2, where Molly Goodman and Dorothy Tai won, 8-3.
The Judges rolled to six singles wins, five coming in straight sets. Cohen defeated Tai, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2 for the team's third point. Cooke knocked off Rebecca Ho, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 1, while junior Emily Eska (Princeton, Mass./Wachusett Regional) took down Goodman at No. 4 by the same score to secure the win.
Senior Simone Vandroff (Moss Beach, Calif./Half Moon Bay) at No. 3 and junior Maya Vasser (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) at No. 5 both won by the score of 6-3, 6-4. The only three-set match was decided in a super tiebreaker, as Aaron prevailed over UR's Darby McCall, 6-3, 4-6, 10-6.
Against Case Western Reserve in the fifth-place match, Cooke picked up Brandeis's only win at No. 1 singles, where she rolled past the Spartans' Nithya Kanagasegar, 6-0, 6-2. Cooke and Cohen were edged in doubles action by Kanagasegar and Sara Zargham, 8-6. Cohen had a chance at No. 2 singles against Michelle Djohan, taking the second set to a tiebreaker, but the Case player prevailed, 6-1, 7-6 (7-1). Vandroff took the first set from Zargham at No. 3 before falling, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1. Aaron went three sets at No. 6 again, but dropped the super tiebreaker this time, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 10-8, against Nina Cepeda.