The Brandeis women's tennis team ranked #18 in the nation, defeated conference rival #15 NYU, 6-3 today. With the win the Judges improve to 8-4, while the Violets fall to 6-1.
In doubles play, the Judges came out strong as duo of sophomore Lauren Bertsch (Middletown, R.I./LaSalle Academy) and senior Olivia Leavitt (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) got things going at No. 1 with a 8-7 (7-2) tiebreaker victory. At No. 2 it was duo of junior Diana Dehterevich (Minsk, Belarus / Secondary School #185 of Minsk) and senior Keren Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J./Academy of Allied Health and Sciences) who earned an 8-4 win. At No. 3 it was senior Sophia He (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Spackenkill) and rookie Ana Hatfield (Rockford, Ill./Boylan Central Catholic) who completed the sweep with hard fought 8-7 (7-4) victory.
In singles play, the Violets started out strong as senior Leavitt fell at No. 2 in straight sets, 2-6, 1-6. But the Judges would respond at No. 3 as fellow senior Khromchenko claimed a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Rookie Hatfield kept thing rolling for the Judges as she earned a 6-2, 6-1, win at No. 5, while sophomore Bertsch earned a 6-1, 6-1, win at No. 4. The Violets would pick up two more wins at No. 1 and 6 as junior Dehterevich fell 4-6, 6-7 (5-7) and senior Michele Lehat (Great Neck , N.Y. / John L. Miller Great Neck North) fell 2-6, 5-7.
Last year, the teams split during the season as NYU went 5-4 in the regular season, while Brandeis went 6-3 at UAAs. It was similar today, as doubles made the difference. Each match was a 3-3 split at singles, but the Judges won doubles 2-1 in the first match, and won 3-0 in the doubles.
The Judges will be back in action tomorrow as they will host Skidmore College for a 10:00 a.m. match. They will look to extend their win streak to six games.
--by Camila Casanueva '21