LEWISTON, Maine-- The Brandeis men3-6, 6-0, (10-4)s tennis team had a fine showing at the 2009 James Wallach Invitational at Bates College. Coach Ben Lamanna's squad, returning to his alma mater, placed three players in the finals of the four flights, winning one.
The Judges' top performance came from rookie Steven Milo (Woodbury, N.Y./Syosset) in the 'C' flight. Milo was the flight champion, winning a pair of third-set super-tiebreakers en route to the title. Milo defeated Greg Katz from Vassar, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round and took his first super tie-breaker against an opponent Skidmore's Alex Fromson, 6-3, 3-6, (10-7), in the second. He won the semifinals easily against Azam Khan from Trinity, 6-1, 6-2, and closed out his win by rallying from a set down to defeat, Ethan Bond, another Skidmore Thoroughbred, 4-6, 7-5, (10-8).
Brandeis's two other finalists came in the 'A' and 'D' flights. In the 'A' flight, junior transfer Nick White (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) bested one of his former Trinity teammates, Jugal Marfatia, 6-4, 6-2, in the opener. He in the next two rounds, he eliminated a pair of Bates Bobcats, Mike Reiss, 6-3, 6-4, and Amrit Rusapinghe, 6-2, 6-2, before falling to Mike Mattelson from Vassar, 5-7, 2-6, for the championship. In the 'D' flight, rookie Brett Byron (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) needed three tiebreakers to reach the finals, but he prevailed in all three. Byron opened the tournament with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, win over Josh Kessler from Vassar. Byron rallied from a set down to top Jeremy Hogan of Skidmore, 3-6, 6-0, (10-4), then held off Trinity's Kyle Boguslawsky, 6-2, 3-6, (10-5), in the semifinals before bowing to Max Bevin of Skidmore, 1-6, 0-6.