Men's tennis rallies past Skidmore, 5-4

Jacob Kaupplia '23 hits a backhand
A backhand from Jacob Kaupplia '23 (Photo by Jacob Dye, ITA)

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Brandeis University men's tennis team overcame a 4-2 deficit today as the Judges went on the road to defeat Skidmore College, 5-4. Brandeis improves to 5-2 on the season, while the Thoroughbreds fall to 2-2.

Skidmore opened by taking a 2-1 lead after doubles, only the second time this season that the Judges trailed.   Brandeis opened the scoring at #1, where seniors Jeffrey Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) and Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) won, 8-4. SC knotted things up at #2, where Zach Portnoy and Brendan Jimenez earned an 8-7 win, 7-2 in the tiebreaker. The Thoroughbreds took the lead at #3 when Tristan Thiebaut and Connor Biernat picked up an 8-6 victory.

The hosts went ahead, 3-1, when John Rado defeated Chen at #2, 6-4, 6-3. Brandeis sophomore Dylan Walters (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School) got the Judges back on the board at #4, 6-4, 7-5, to avenge a doubles loss to Jimenez. Skidmore moved within one win of victory when Sergiu Celebidachi knocked off first-year Colin Fox (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier), 6-4, 6-2, at #3.

Brandeis's comeback started at #5, where senior Colt Tegtmeier (Madison, Wisc./James Madison Memorial) defeated Alper Kulturel, 7-5, 6-0. The Judges tied it up at #1, when Tzeng won the day's only three-setter 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, over Portnoy.

The final match standing featured Thiebault and Brandeis junior Simon Kauppila (Chesterfield, Mo. / Marquette), who had missed the last several Judge matches due to illness. Kauppila earned the straight-set victory, 6-4, 6-2, to help the Judges complete the comeback.

Brandeis will return to action next Sunday at 10 a.m. when they play host to Colby College.