ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Brandeis University men's tennis team, seeded eighth and ranked 30th in Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), dropped its quarterfinal match at the 2013 University Athletic Assocation (UAA) tournament to top-seeded and second-ranked Washington University by an 8-1 score at Sanlando Park in Orlando, Fla., today.
Brandeis's lone point on the afternoon came at No. 4 singles, where rookie Ryan Bunis (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable) defeated Tim Noack for his eighth-straight win. After Bunis cruised in the first set, 6-0, Noack rallied in the second, 6-3. In a third-set super-tiebreaker, Bunis earned a 10-6 victory. His last four wins and five of his last eight have been in three sets.
Defending UAA champions Washington (17-2) were strong early, winning all three doubles matches by scores of 8-4, 8-5 and 8-1, respectively. The Judges' (10-8) closest match at #2 saw rookie Michael Arguello (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) and junior Alec Siegel (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) edged by the Bears' John Carswell and Josh Cogan.
In singles play, Washington won at No. 5 and 2 to clinch the match. After Tyler Kratky knocked off Michael Secular (Bronx, N.Y./Plant, Fla.), 6-1, 6-3, Carswell topped Arguello, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 2 for the fifth point. WashU also won a straight-set match at No. 6, where Kevin Chu topped rookie Jeff Cherkin (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East), 6-4, 6-2.
The final three matches went three sets, with the Bears winning two of them. In addition to Bunis's win, rookie Brian Granoff (Miami, Fla./Palmetto) pushed the Bears' Ross Putterman to two tiebreakers. After Granoff lost the first set, 6-1, he won the second, 7-6, 7-3 in the tiebreaker. The 10-point supertiebreaker went long, but Putterman pulled it out, 11-9. Also going three sets was sophomore Danny Lubarsky (Cleveland, Ohio/Hawken School), who fell to Jeremy Bush after winning the first set, 2-6, 6-2, 10-5 in a super tiebreaker.
The Judges will next take on fifth-seeded and 17th-ranked Chicago tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the consolation semifinals. The Maroons fell to #12 Case Western Reserve, 7-2.