ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- The fifth-seeded Brandeis University women's tennis team dropped its quarterfinal match to fourth-seeded University of Chicago at the 2014 University Athletic Association championships today by a 6-3 margin. The Judges, ranked No. 22 in Division III by the ITA, split singles matches with the #12 Maroons, but were swept in doubles action.
Brandeis played Chicago tight in two of the three doubles matches, but couldn't quite close them out. After UC won, 8-4 at No. 2, the Brandeis tandem of Dylan Schlesinger (Miami, Fla./Palmetto) and Simone Vandroff (Moss Beach, Calif./Half Moon Bay) suffered a late break of serve against Stephanie Lee and Kelsey McGillis to fall, 9-7. The No. 1 match was even closer, with neither team able to pull away. Brandeis junior All-American Carley Cooke (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) and senior Roberta Bergstein (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) went toe-to-toe with Megan Tang and Tiffany Chen of Chicago, who were the top-ranked team in the Central Region, but the Maroons took a tiebreaker, 7-2, to complete the sweep.
In singles action, all six matches were decided in straight-sets. The biggest win came from Cooke. Ranked sixth in the Northeast Region, she defeated Tang, who is top-ranked in the Central, 6-4, 6-1. The Judges also got wins at the bottom of the order, where Vandroff defeated Sruthi Ramaswami, 6-2, 6-4, in the fifth spot, while sophomore Maya Vasser (New Rochelle, N.Y. / New Rochelle) won at No. 6 over Stephanie Lee, 7-5, 6-1, with the first set being the longest of the match.
Brandeis (10-10) will face New York University tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the consolation semifinals. The Judges defeated the Violets, 8-1, earlier this season. Chicago (10-8) will take on top-seeded and second-ranked Emory in the semifinals.
