Brandeis women's tennis opens spring with 4-3 win over D1 Bryant

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University women's tennis team opened their spring 2017 season late on Saturday evening with a dramatic 4-3 win over Division I Bryant University. The match lasted more than five hours and came down to the final match at No. 6 singles. The Judge

HOW IT HAPPENED

Played under Division I rules, the three doubles matches all went to Bryant. The closest match was played at No. 3, where the Bulldogs tandem of Sky Arroyo and Brianna Leonard edged Brandeis sophomores Keren Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J. / Academy of Allied Health and Science) and Michele Lehat (Great Neck , N.Y. / John L. Miller Great Neck North), 7-5.
Brandeis evened the score in singles action, where rookie Sabrina Ross Neergaard (Port Orchard, Wash. / Laurel Springs Prep) went to a third-set tiebreaker to defeat Bryant's Marion Bouillin, 5-7, 6-4, 10-3.
The visitors went back ahead at No. 3, but junior Haley Cohen (Cherry Hill, N.J. / Laurel Springs) evened the score again at No. 2 with another three-set victory, 6-4, 2-6, 10-6.
Bryant cruised to a 6-2, 6-0, win at No. 5 to get within one point of victory.
Sophomore Olivia Leavitt (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) knotted the score shortly after with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4.
Lehat and Leonard met for the second time with the match on the line at No. 6. Lehat won the first set, 6-4, and was on serve but down 3-4 in the second when Leonard was forced to retire due to an injury, giving the Judges the victory in their first match of the season.
The win is Brandeis's first over a Division I team since 2013, when they beat Holy Cross.