WALTHAM, Mass. – In a battle of top-30 teams in Division III today, the 22^nd-ranked Brandeis University women's tennis team handily defeated 27^th-ranked Bates, 8-1, at the Rieger Tennis Courts. The Judges improve to 9-6 with their second win in a row, while the Bobcats fall to 9-7.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges swept doubles to start the match. At 2 and 3, they won by identical scores of 8-4. Junior Olivia Leavitt (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) and rookie Lauren Bertsch (Middletown, R.I./LaSalle Academy) won at the second spot, while rookie Rachel Zubrinsky (Waxhaw, N.C./Marvin Ridge) and senior Haley Cohen (Cherry Hill, N.J./Laurel Springs Prep) won at the third spot.
• The No. 1 match came down to a tiebreaker, and Brandeis junior Keren Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J./Academy of Allied Health and Science) and sophomore Sabrina Ross Neergaard (Port Orchard, Wash./Laurel Springs Prep) outlasted Bates' Maisie Silverman and Isabella Stone, 9-8 (7-3).
• In singles action, the Judges won each of the first three matches to finish with a love set to clinch the win. Leavitt won her first set, 6-0, over Stone, who had to retire due to an injury.
• Zubrinsky earned the clinch at No. 6, 6-0, 6-2, while Bertsch took a 6-4, 6-0, win at No. 4.
• Silverman defeated Ross Neergaard at the top spot for the Bobcats' lone point, 6-0, 6-4.
• After junior Michele Lehat (Great Neck, N.Y./John L. Miller Great Neck North) won at No. 5, 6-1, 6-3, the final match remaining was No. 2 singles between Khromchenko and Hannah Sweeney.
• Brandeis won the first set, 7-5, but Bates rallied for the second, 6-2. In a marathon third set, Khromchenko prevailed, 15-13, to provide the final point of the day for the Judges.

UP NEXT

• Brandeis will meet Wheaton College tomorrow at 10 a.m. in their final home match of the season. The Judges will be in search of eighth-straight 10-win season.