Leavitt, Khromchenko win first-round matches at ITAs

Olivia Leavitt '19 (photo by Jeff Lamanna)
Olivia Leavitt '19 (photo by Jeff Lamanna)

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. And WILLIAMSTOWN, Mas. – The Brandeis University men's tennis team has sent three players on to the second day of action at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England Regional Championships, one in singles and one doubles team. The tournament is being held at Middlebury College.

On the singles side, sophomore Nikhil Das (Providence, R.I./Moses Brown) was one of just three unseeded players to advance to the Round of 16. He defeated Guilherme Barbosa of Nichols in the first round, 6-2, 6-3, then outlasted Harris Foulkes of Amherst, 2-6, 6-4, 10-5, in the second. Foulkes had ousted one of the 9-16 seeds in his first match. Das is slated to meet eighth-seed Arturo Kam from Williams in the third round.

In doubles play, senior Jackson Kogan (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School) and rookie Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) were the second seeds in the draw and handled Hackett and Phillips from Coast Guard, 8-2, in their first round. They will meet a duo from Wesleyan in the second round.

Tzeng also picked up a tight first-round singles win over Zach Bessette of Amherst, needing a tiebreaker in the second set and a super tiebreaker in the third to win, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 10-8. Tzeng fell to one of the other unseeded players to advance to tomorrow's matches, Stanley Morris of host school Middlebury, 6-3, 6-2.

The Judges nearly had a second team advance in the doubles draw, but senior Tyler Ng (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck South) and rookie Jeff Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) fell in a tiebreaker to the fourth seeds from Bowdoin 8-7 (7-5).

The Brandeis women advanced two singles players past the first round of their ITA regional at Williams College, but none advanced to the second day of action. Senior Keren Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J./Allied Academy of Health and Science) knocked off Julia Pham of host Williams, 6-1, 7-5, before falling to sixth-seeded Claire Evans of Amherst, 6-4, 6-2. Classmate Olivia Leavitt (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) rolled past Justine Hanson of Gordon, 6-2, 6-1, before falling to sixth-seeded Christina Pucinelli of Middlebury, 7-5, 6-1.

The Judges had an unlucky draw in women's doubles, facing seeded opponents in both of their first-round matches. Leavitt and sophomore Lauren Bertsch (Middletown, R.I./LaSalle Acad.) pushed the top seeds from Wesleyan before losing, 8-5, while Khromchenko and senior Michele Lehat (Great Neck, N.Y./John L. Miller Great Neck North), fell to one of the 5-8 seeds from Amherst, 8-4.