CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Brandeis University women's tennis team picked up a second-straight road win on Saturday, defeating MIT, 6-3, in a battle of Top 25 teams. The 21st-ranked Judges improved to 5-1 on the season and handed the #17 Engineers their first loss, dropping them to 10-1.
Brandeis opened with a 2-1 lead after doubles action. MIT got off to a quick start, with Dora Tzeng and Kelly Zhu winning 8-1 at No. 2. Judge sophomore Olivia Leavitt (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) and rookie Sabrina Ross Neergaard (Port Orchard, Wash./Laurel Springs Acad.) took an 8-4 win at No. 1 to even the score. Brandeis took the lead into singles action thanks to a tiebreaker win at No. 3 by sophomores Michele Lehat (Great Neck , N.Y. / John L. Miller Great Neck North) and Keren Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J./Academy of Allied Health and Science). After an even set, the Judges won the tiebreaker going away, 7-2.
In singles action, Brandeis won at the top three spots to clinch the win. Ross Neergaard defeated Tzeng at No. 1, 6-4, 6-0, while junior captain Haley Cohen (Cherry Hill, N.J./Laurel Springs) avenged her doubles loss to Zhu with a 6-3, 6-4, win at No. 2. Khromchenko completed the sweep in the top spots with a 6-2, 6-3, win at No. 3. Lehat earned her second win of the day at No. 5 singles with a third-set super tiebreaker, 6-2, 2-6, 11-9.
The win for the Judges was their first over MIT since 2012. Brandeis returns to action next weekend with matches against St. Lawrence University on Saturday afternoon and UAA rival NYU on Sunday