#21 women's tennis edged by #23 NYU, 5-4

Lauren Bertsch '21 (photo courtesy The Justice)
Lauren Bertsch '21 (photo courtesy The Justice)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Brandeis University tennis teams picked up a split with University Athletic Association rivals New York University today at the Stadium Tennis Center in the Bronx. The 18th-ranked Judge men won their match, 7-2, while the No. 21 women dropped their top-25 match-up with the No. 23 Violets, 5-4. The Brandeis men improve to 9-2 with their fourth-straight win, while the women fall to 7-4.

HOW IT HAPPENED – Women (NYU, 5-4)

  • The Judges fell behind in doubles in this one. NYU's Rupa Ganesh and Judy Kam got the scoring started at No. 3, 8-3, while Anna Buraya and Coco Kulle survived an 8-6 match at No. 2
  • Brandeis got on the board at the top spot, as sophomore Sabrina Ross Neergaard (Port Orchard, N.J./Laurel Springs Prep) and junior Keren Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J./Academy of Allied Health and Sciences) won 8-6.
  • In singles action, NYU took the top half of the match to earn the win. Brandeis junior Olivia Leavitt (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-3, win at No. 4 over Ganesh.
  • The Violets answered with wins by Buraya at No. 1 over Ross Neergaard, 6-4, 6-1, and at No. 3, where Flora Shyanova topped Brandeis senior Haley Cohen (Cherry Hill, N.J./Laurel Springs Prep), 6-2, 6-4.
  • NYU clinched the match at No. 2, as Kulle battled Khromchenko to a three-set decision, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
  • Brandeis won the final two matches, as rookie Lauren Bertsch (Middletown, R.I./LaSalle Academy) won 6-3, 7-5, at No. 5, and junior Michele Lehat (Great Neck, N.Y./John L. Miller Great Neck North) outlasted Kam, 2-6, 6-4, 10-7, in a third-set super tiebreaker, at No. 6
  • The women are back in action next Friday at Amherst.

IT HAPPENED – Men (Brandeis, 7-2)

  • The Judges opened with a 2-1 lead after doubles play. NYU won the first point of the day, 8-5, at No. 2, thanks to a win from Michael Li and Benedict Teoh.
  • Brandeis bounced back No. 1, where sophomore David Aizenberg (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) and rookie Anupreeth Coramutla (Monroe Township, N.J./Phillips Andover) won 8-4.
  • The rookie duo of Nikhil Das (Smithfield, R.I./Moses Brown School) and Rajan Vohra (Glen Head, N.Y./North Shore) gave Brandeis the lead, 8-6, at No. 3.
  • Brandeis won five of six singles matches to put the match away. Das opened the scoring at No. 4, 6-2, 6-0.
  • NYU's Umberto Setter scored the Violets' lone singles point at No. 1, 6-3, 6-1.
  • Aizenberg's 6-4, 6-2, win at No. 2 moved the Judges one match from clinching, and Vohra wrapped it up with the only three-set win of the day, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, at No. 3.
  • Junior Tyler Ng (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck South) and sophomore Benjamin Wolfe (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) won by opposite scores at 5 and 6 – Ng won 6-2, 7-6, while Wolfe's score was 7-6, 6-2.
  • The Judges return to action tomorrow at noon at Stevens Institute of Technology.