#14 men upended at #27 Wesleyan, 5-4

Aaron Basye '24 (photo courtesy ITA Tennis)
Aaron Basye '24 (photo courtesy ITA Tennis)

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Brandeis University men's tennis team couldn't hang on today in a 5-4 loss to host Wesleyan University, as the host Cardinals came from behind in three different three-set matches. The Judges fall to 10-4 with the loss, while Wesleyan improves to 4-7.

The Judges took a 2-1 lead after doubles, with senior Colt Tegtmeier (Madison, Wisc./James Madison Memorial) and first-year Aryan Nijhawan (Shrewsbury, Mass. / Westborough) winning 8-2 at #3 and sophomore Dylan Walters (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School) and junior Hunter Levine (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay) earning an 8-6 victory at #2. Seniors Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) and Jeffrey Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) were upset at #1, 8-4.

The Judges looked to be in control after the first three singles matches were complete. Wesleyan's Zach Lieb won at #2, 6-4, 6-1, to defeat Walters, to tie the score at 2-2. Sophomore Chen Liang (Shanghai, China / Shanghai Pinghe School) won at #5, 6-0, 6-2, and sophomore Aaron Basye (Mission Viejo, Calif. / Tesoro) was a 6-4, 6-1, victor at #6 to make it 4-2, Judges.

Brandeis won the first set at the final three matches, but were unable to close out the home team. Ben Mitchell started with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, win at #3 over Tegtmeier. Peter Anker knocked off Chen at #1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to tie the overall match, and Harry Portnoy completed the comeback at #4, defeating junior Simon Kauppila (Chesterfield, Mo. / Marquette H.S.), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Brandeis will close its regular season tomorrow with a Senior Day match against RPI tomorrow at 1 p.m. before heading to Florida for the UAA Tournament.