WAYLAND, Mass. – The Brandeis women's tennis team won five of the first six matches today to clinch a key 5-4 University Athletic Association win over visiting NYU at the Longfellow Racquet Club today. The Judges, ranked 21st in Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, improve to 8-1 on the season, while the Violets fall to 3-2.
NYU opened the doubles scoring with an 8-3 win by Alice McGinty and Vanessa Scott at No. 2. Brandeis's top team of rookie Sabrina Ross Neergaard (Port Orchard, Wash./Laurel Hills Prep) and Olivia Leavitt (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) answered at No. 1 with an 8-4 win. The final doubles point came down to a tiebreaker, but Judge sophomores Michele Lehat (Great Neck, N.Y./James L. Miller North) and Keren Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J./Allied Academy of Health and Sciences) prevailed, 7-4, for the key second win.
In singles play, Khromchenko kept her momentum going from the doubles match, defeating NYU's Judy Kam without dropping a game in two sets, 6-0, 6-0. Ross-Neergaard edged McGinty, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 1 singles to get the Judges within one point of victory. Leavitt clinched the win in straight sets over the Violets' Rupa Ganesh, 6-4, 6-4.
Though Brandeis clinched the match, NYU kept the final score close by winning the final three matches of the day. Nikki Ong cruised, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 6, while Laila El Dessouki knocked off Lehat in a tiebreaker in the second set, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 5. Scott finished a 2-0 day for the Violets with a three-set win over Cohen, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.
The win was the 14th for Brandeis in the last 15 meetings between the two schools, who could meet in Florida later in April at the UAA tournament.
The Judges will put their six-match winning streak to the next Saturday at Middlebury College, currently ranked #3 in Division III.