WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Brandeis men's tennis team, ranked No. 30 in the nation, dropped their opener in the 2011 University Athletic Association (UAA) tournament, bowing to No. 17 Carnegie Mellon University, 6-3. The Judges fall to 9-7 on the season and will take on Rochester in tomorrow's consolation bracket semifinals, while CMU improves to 14-8 and will face second-ranked Emory in the semis.
The Judges were playing without senior Simon Miller (Plantation, Fla./Plantation), who suffered an injury in the previous match against Trinity. Miller was the team's No. 1 singles player and part of a nationally-ranked doubles tandem with classmate Nick White (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley). White instead teamed with sophomore Dave Yovanoff (Eden, N.Y./Eden) in doubles, and the two suffered a late break to fall, 8-6, to the Tartans' Bobby McTaggart (Boonton, N.J./Newark Acad.) and Alex Nemerov (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) at No. 1. The Tartans had an easier time at No. 2 and 3 doubles, taking 8-2 and 8-0 victories, respectively.
In singles action, CMU wrapped up the match early before the Judges made it respectable late. Sophomore Duke Miller (Poway, Calif./Poway) knocked off Yovanoff in three sets, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, in the number 2 spot, before classmate Jooho Yu (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) closed out Brandeis senior Steven Nieman (Forest Hills, N.Y./Benjamin Cardozo) in a fifth-singles match that featured numerous long points and games, 6-2, 6-0.
Despite being unable to win the match, the Brandeis players did not quietly. Rookie Adam Brown (W. Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury), promoted to the starting lineup after Miller's injury, earned Brandeis's only straight-set win at No. 6, 6-4, 6-3. After Carnegie Mellon's McTaggart topped Judge senior Ezra Bernstein (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors School), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), the hosts pulled out a pair of three-set wins.
White rallied to defeat Nemerov, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, in the top spot. Trailing a set and 2-1 in the second, White went down with an apparent injury, but was treated by Brandeis trainer Lisa DeNicola. After returning to the court, White proceeded to win 11 games in a row to knock off Nemerov. Finally, sophomore Josh Jordan (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin Regional) outlasted Tartan junior Jeremy King (East Meadow, N.Y./Chaminade), 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, taking the tiebreaker, 7-4, to close out the match.