WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University seniors Steven Milo of Woodbury, N.Y., of the men's tennis team and Blake Minchoff of Fiskdale, Mass., and the men's soccer squad, have earned University Athletic Association (UAA) Athlete of the Week honors for the week ending Sept. 30.
Milo was recognized for his performance at the 2012 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England regional tournament, where he made the quarterfinals of both the singles and doubles draws. In doubles action, Mile teamed with classmate Josh Jordan of Northborough, Mass., to earn a 5-8 seed. In their opener, they held on in a marathon match to defeat Pierre Planche and Peter Yanovsky of Bates College, 9-8. The Judges won the tiebreaker by a 10-8 score. They defeated Ben Barad and Nick Telkhedzhiev of Tufts, 8-4, in the second round, but the tournament's fourth seed and eventual champions, Matt Micheli and Trey Meyer from host Williams ended the Judges' run in the quarterfinals with an 8-5 defeat.
In singles action, Milo was the eighth seed. He faced Howie Weiss of host Williams in the first round. They split the first two sets, with Milo winning 6-2 in the opener and Weiss, 6-4, in the second set. Milo then won a third-set super-tiebreaker, 10-4. Milo went on to make it to the Round of 16 with a 7-5, 6-2, win over Dan Carpenter of Trinity College. Milo defeated another Tufts player, Jay Glickman, in the Sweet 16, by a 6-3, 6-3 score. That win set up a meeting with top-seeded Mark Kahan in the quarters. Milo gave the No. 1 player from Amherst all he could handle, taking the second set before falling, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Minchoff was honored by the UAA for the second time this season as the men's soccer Defensive Player of the Week. Minchoff made three saves in the Judges' 2-1 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology on Sept. 25, helping the Judges to improve to 9-0 on the season. In their UAA opener, the ninth-ranked Judges traveled to the University of Rochester. Minchoff made a career-high eight saves, including two in the second overtime, as Brandeis claimed a 1-1 draw.
With the tie, Minchoff and Brandeis are unbeaten in their last 15 matches dating back to last season, tying a school record, with only a 15-game winning streak in 1985 a longer string. Overall this season, Minchoff leads the UAA with 35 saves and ranks fourth with a 0.89 goals-against average.
Milo is a 2009 graduate of Syosset High School. He is the son of Sheldon and Trudy Milo, Woodbury, N.Y.
Minchoff is a 2009 graduate of Tantasqua Regional High School. He is the son of Danny and Lori Minchoff, Fiskdale, Mass.