NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The Brandeis University women's tennis team competed on Oct 12th through 14th at the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament in a bracketed two-player format. Teams of two faced their opponents in two singles and one doubles match.
In the tournament's top draw, senior Diana Dehterevich (Minsk, Belarus / Secondary School #185 of Minsk) and junior Lauren Bertsch (Middletown, R.I./LaSalle Academy) reached the semifinals, defeating the top team of Suk and Garrido from Tufts, 2-1, in the first round and the second-seeded top squad from Amherst, Jackie Butzkin and Claire Evans, 2-1, in the second. Against Tufts, the Judges won in doubles, 8-7 (7-5) and Dehterevich topped Suk, 7-5, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, The Judges again won the doubles point, rolling to an 8-2 win, before Dehterevich claimed a 6-2, 6-1, win over Buzkin to clinch victory and advance to the second day of action.
On Saturday, the Judges fell to the eventual champions, the third team from Amherst, Owensby and Ramras, by another 2-1 score. The Brandeis duo dropped their first doubles match of the tournament, 8-5, but Dehterevich posted an impressive 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) singles win to even things out. Bertsch couldn't pick up the final point, falling, 6-0, 6-2.
Further down the ladder, junior Isabel Cepeda (Mason, Ohio/William Mason) and sophomore Ana Hatfield (Rockford, Ill./Boylan Central Catholic) reached the consolation finals of the B draw. After losing to the third team of Henderson and Tran from defending Division III champions Wesleyan in the opening round, 3-0, they came back to defeat Mount Holyoke's Gerasimova and Peabody, 2-1, and Endicott's Foley and Berler, 3-0, before falling in the consolation finals, 3-0, to Fernandez and Kitova from MIT. The pair picked up doubles wins over MHC, 8-3, and Endicott, 8-1. Hatfield rolled over her Lyon opponent, 6-1, 6-0, and was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Endicott. Cepeda won, 6-2, 6-1, against Endicott. She also nearly pulled off a point against MIT, losing 6-3, 2-6, 10-6.
Rookie Grace Wang (Clyde Hill, Wash. / International Community) picked up four wins in the D draw teamed with Formicola from Wheaton College. The pair won doubles against Mount Holyoke, 8-6, but fell in singles action to head to the consolation bracket. They picked up another doubles win, 8-5, against Smith, with Wang winning, 6-2, 6-2, to earn a berth in the consolation finals. Wang picked up another singles win over Smith, 6-1, 6-3, but the pair lost in doubles, 8-5.