#18 women knock off #13 Skidmore, 6-3, on Senior Day

The men and women of Brandeis Tennis Class of 2019! (Photo by Julie Mizraji)
The men and women of Brandeis Tennis Class of 2019! (Photo by Julie Mizraji)

WALTHAM, MASS. – For the second-straight day, the 18th-ranked Brandeis University women's tennis team defeated a higher-ranked team as the Judges topped #13 Skidmore College, 6-3, on the Rieger Tennis Courts. In one of their final home matches, the Judges celebrated their seniors before the match, and the Class of 2019 went 4-0 in singles and 6-1 overall. With the win, Brandeis improves to 9-4, while Skidmore falls to 9-4.

The Judges got out to a 2-1 lead after doubles action. Senior Sophia He (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Spackenkill) teamed with rookie Ana Hatfield (Rockford, Ill. / Boylan Central Catholic) for an 8-6 win at #3 to start the scoring. Senior Keren Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J. / Academy of Allied Health and Science) and junior Diana Dehterevich (Minsk, Belarus / Secondary School #185 of Minsk) took an 8-5 decision at #2 to guarantee the lead for Brandeis headed into singles. Skidmore got on the board at #1 in a tiebreaker as Risa Fukushige and Renee Karchere-Sun knocked off senior Olivia Leavitt (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) and sophomore Lauren Bertsch (Middletown, R.I./LaSalle Academy), 8-7 (7-4).

Skidmore tied the match up at 2-2 as #4, where Lily Feldman knocked off Bertsch, 6-3, 6-4. Leavitt got things back on track at #2 with a 6-4, 6-0 win, but Skidmore tied things up again at 3-3 when Fukushige knocked off Dehterevich at #1, 6-3, 6-2.

Senior Michele Lehat (Great Neck, N.Y./James L. Miller Great Neck North) got the Judges within one point of victory with a 6-3, 6-2, win at #6, setting the stage for a pair of three-set wins. He clinched the match with a back-and-forth win, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, at #5. Khromchenko had a terrific rally in the longest match of the afternoon. After falling behind 6-7 (5-7), she won the second, 6-4, then came from 8-4 down in the third-set super tiebreaker, winning the final six points for a 10-8 victory and the 6-3 final.

The Judges hit the road for two more matches against higher-ranked squads, next week, starting with a match at #7 Tufts on Thursday before meeting #14 Bowdoin next Saturday.