WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's and women's tennis teams had three athletes named to the 2014 University Athletic Association (UAA) Men's and Women's Tennis All-Association Teams. Junior Carley Cooke, of San Diego, Calif., was a second-team selection at first singles. On the men's side, rookie Ryan Bunis of Groton, Mass., and junior Michael Secular of Bronx, N.Y., were second-team selections at fourth and sixth singles, respectively.
Cooke went 3-0 at singles at the UAA Tournament last week, improving to 8-0 lifetime in conference play. She went 14-5 overall on the year, all at No. 1 singles, including 7-3 against ranked schools. Cooke defeated the seventh- and eighth-ranked singles players in the Northeast on back-to-back days in late March. At UAAs, she defeated the No. 1 player in the Central region, the University of Chicago's Megan Tang, 6-4, 6-1.
Cooke has represented the Judges at the NCAA Championships each of the last two seasons, claiming All-American honors in singles in 2012 and doubles last year. She was also All-UAA second-team in singles two years ago and doubles in 2013. The 2014 NCAA qualifiers have yet to be announced.
Bunis won his last 10 singles matches of the year, nine of which came at No. 4. That included wins against four ranked teams, and a 3-0 record at the UAA Tournament. Bunis picked up the Judges' only point in the opening round of conference play against the No. 2 team in the country, Washington University. In that match, he defeated the Bears' Tim Noack, 6-0, 3-6, 10-6. Of Bunis' 10-straight victories, eight of them went three sets. In seven of those, he lost the first set before battling back.
Secular went 10-6 on the year, including 7-3 in the No. 6 slot. He had three wins against ranked teams this year, including a 7-5, 6-2 match against No. 17 University of Chicago's Max Hawkins at the UAA Tournament. He also defeated a Rochester player at UAAs, and finished 2-1 overall in conference.
The women's tennis finished 11-11 on the year and sixth at the UAA Tournament. The men's side was 11-9 overall, and finished seventh in the conference. Both of coach Ben Lamanna's squads are nationally ranked – the women's team is No. 22 in the country, while the men have been as high as No. 24, and are currently ranked 30th.
Cooke is a 2011 graduate of Point Loma High School. She is the daughter of Michael and Elysia Cooke, San Diego, Calif.
Bunis is a 2013 graduate of Groton-Dunstable Regional High School. He is the son of Henry and Dianne Bunis, Groton, Mass.
Secular is a 2011 graduate of H.B. Plant High School. He is the son of David and Sallie Secular, Bronx, N.Y.