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Brandeis University

Women's Tennis

#24 women's tennis rallies, but falls just short against #7 Bowdoin, 5-3

WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University junior All-American Carley Cooke (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) rallied her team from a big deficit, but a win over another regionally-ranked opponent wasn't quite enough as the 24th-ranked Judges fell to the No. 7 Bowdoin College Polar Bears, 5-3.  Brandeis is now 3-7 on the year, with all of their losses coming to teams ranked ahead of them in the Intercollegiate College Association (ITA) Top 30, or in Division I.  Bowdoin wins its fifth-straight match to improve to 9-2 on the season.

Cooke – ranked ninth in the Northeast Region – picked up Brandeis's second point of the day with a comeback win at No. 1 singles. Bowdoin's Tiffany Cheng – No. 7 in the region – went ahead with a break in the last game of first set to win, 6-4. Cooke then broke her opponent three times in the second set to win easily, 6-0.

In the third set, the two traded holds of serve in the first two games. After Cooke broke to take a 2-1 lead, Cheng answered right back to knot the set at 2-all. Cooke rallied, winning the final four games to close out her second-straight win over a foe just ahead of her in the rankings. Game five was another break by Cooke as she moved her Polar Bear opponent around the court. She consolidated to 4-2 with an ace at 40-30. Cooke picked up a second break with fine service returns to get to 5-2, and closed it out in the eighth game. She had two early match points, but Cheng battled back to get to a break point of her own. Cooke responded with three-straight points, clinching with a service winner to get the victory.

Brandeis sophomore Emily Eska (Princeton, Mass./Wachusett Regional), playing her second match of the season at No. 4 singles, had a tremendous showing to get the Judges within a point at 4-3. Eska won the first set from Bowdoin's Samantha Stalder, 6-3, but dropped the second set by the same score. In the third set, the two held serve through the first eight games before Eska broke through with a winner at 30-40 to earn the break. Serving for the match, Eska jumped out to a 40-15 lead before Stalder fought off two match points. Eska bounced back to win the next two points and get the Judges within one at 4-3.

Bowdoin then closed out the match at No. 5 singles, where Emma Lewis rallied from a set down to defeat Judge junior Simone Vandroff (Moss Beach, Calif./Half Moon Bay). Vandroff edged Lewis in the first set, 6-4, but the Polar Bear picked up early breaks of serve in each of the next two to earn a pair of 6-2 victories.

Bowdoin jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles action. The Polar Bears got an 8-4 win at No. 3, where Cheng and Pilar Giffenig topped Eska and junior Dylan Schlesinger (Miami, Fla. / Palmetto), 8-4. Cooke and Vandroff, ranked sixth in the Northeast, knocked off fourth-ranked Lewis and Joulia Likhanskaia, 8-5, at the top spot. The Polar Bears went ahead as Stalder and Kate Winningham topped seniors Bernstein and Marissa Lazar (Hewlett, N.Y. / Lynbrook) with a late break, 8-6, in the third spot.  

The Polar Bears extended their lead to 4-1 after the first two singles matches were completed. Likhanskaia topped Brandeis senior Roberta Bergstein (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) at No. 3, 6-1, 6-2, while Winningham won at No. 2 by fending off Allyson Bernstein (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North), 6-4, 6-3.

Brandeis returns to action Wednesday at Babson College at 3 p.m. Bowdoin takes on Connecticut College on the road next Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

 
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Players Mentioned

Roberta Bergstein

Roberta Bergstein

Senior
Allyson Bernstein

Allyson Bernstein

Senior
Carley Cooke

Carley Cooke

Junior
Emily Eska

Emily Eska

Sophomore
Marissa Lazar

Marissa Lazar

Senior
Dylan Schlesinger

Dylan Schlesinger

Junior
Simone Vandroff

Simone Vandroff

Junior

Players Mentioned

Roberta Bergstein

Roberta Bergstein

Senior
Allyson Bernstein

Allyson Bernstein

Senior
Carley Cooke

Carley Cooke

Junior
Emily Eska

Emily Eska

Sophomore
Marissa Lazar

Marissa Lazar

Senior
Dylan Schlesinger

Dylan Schlesinger

Junior
Simone Vandroff

Simone Vandroff

Junior
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