MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Brandeis University tennis teams posted a 1-1 record over the weekend at Middlebury College. The men fell to the tenth-ranked hosts, 8-1, but closed out the weekend with a victory over Colby College.
Against the Mules, Brandeis took a 2-1 lead after doubles action. Rookie Michael Arguello (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) and sophomore Danny Lubarsky (Cleveland, Ohio/Hawken School) were 8-6 winners at No. 1, while junior Michael Secular (Bronx, N.Y./Plant, Fla.) teamed with rookie Brian Granoff (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) for an 8-5 win at No. 3.
In singles action, Secular and Lubarsky pushed Brandeis's lead to 4-1. Secular had the team's easiest win of the day at sixth singles, defeating Colby's Max Pollinger, 6-1, 6-3. Lubarsky edged the Mules' Jack Bryant in the first set, 7-5, before coasting in the second, 6-1. The match was clinched at fifth singles, where junior Alec Siegel (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) won in straight sets over Colby's Cameron Hiller, but needed a tiebreaker in the second, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). Granoff provided the squad's final point at No. 2 singles, also needing a second-set tiebreaker, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to defeat Sam Bachelder for the second time in the match.
Against 10th-ranked Middlebury a day earlier, the Judges fell by an 8-1 score. The lone point came at third doubles, where Secular and Granoff defeated the Panthers' Courtney Mountfield and Jackson Frons, 8-2. The Brandeis duo went a combined 4-2 on the weekend. Granoff had Brandeis's closest singles match against Middlebury, taking the hosts' Brantner Jones to a tiebreaker in the second after a close first set as well, but falling 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
The Brandeis men are now 4-2 on the season. They return to action on Saturday, March 15, at University Athletic Association rival NYU.