MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- Junior Brian Granoff (Miami, Fla. / Gulliver Prep) was one of three Brandeis men's tennis players to reach the second day of play at the Middlebury Invitational, making it all the way to the 'A' flight finals in his third trip to the tournament.

Granoff overcame Tufts' Rohan Gupte in a marathon opening match, 4-6, 6-1, 10-5 in a third-set super tiebreaker. In the second round, he rolled past Kit Sanderson of Skidmore, 6-4, 6-2, making him the only player not from the home team to reach the final four.

In the semfinals, Granoff faced Middlebury All-American Ari Smolyar, and defeated the top seed on his home court. After edging Smolyar in a tiebreaker, 7-4, to win the first set, 7-6, Granoff cruised to the win in the second, 6-1. The Brandeis player was unable to take down a second-straight Panther player, bowing in the finals to Noah Farrell, 6-0, 6-3. Granoff was the first Judge player to reach a final at the Middlebury Invitational since 2010.

Also reaching the second day of play was sophomore Ethan Saal (Scarsdale, N.Y. / Abraham Joshua Heschel School), who made it in both singles and doubles competition. In the 'C' singles draw, Saal knocked off Jagger Reifler of Trinity, 6-2, 6-4, and Steven Kolouris of Skidmore, 7-6, 6-1. In the semfinals, Saal gave eventual champion Garrett Weinstein of Tufts his best match before falling, 6-3, 6-4.

Saal also teamed with junior Ryan Bunis (Cincinnati, Ohio / Groton-Dunstable (Mass.) to make the semifinals in the 'A' doubles draw with a pair of dramatic victories. They used a late break of serve to knock off Tong and Sanderson of Skidmore in the first round and Ali and Brockman of Tufts in the second round by identical 9-7 scores. Saal and Bunis lost in the semifinals to Battle and Cary of Tufts, 8-2. 

The Judges return to action next weekend for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championships at Williams College.