WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University senior Anupreeth Coramutla (Monroe Township, N.J./Phillips Andover) came back from a set down at #1 singles to win the clinching point today as the Judges defeated Merrimack College, 4-3, at the Cordish Tennis Center. The Judges improve to 3-1 on the campaign, while the Warriors fall to 3-8.

Coramutla dropped his first set to Merrimack's Jan Semerak in a tiebreaker, 6-7 (5-7). He bounced back to take the second, 6-4. In the third set, the two were on serve for the first three games before Coramutla got a break of serve. Semerak answered with a break of his own, making it 3-2. Coramutla got the sixth game to deuce under Division I rules, and had a nice return forcing his opponent to hit into the net for another break. In the seventh game, Coramutla displayed a dominant serve, winning at love and closing out the game with an ace to bring him within one game of victory. After Semerak went up, 30-15, Coramutla forced Semerak into back-to-back errors to move within one point of victory. On the decisive point, he maneuvered his opponent around the backcourt, eventually winning a 12-shot rally with a forehand into the open court and setting off a celebration.

The rest of the match was a back-and-forth affair. The Judges got off to a doubles sweep, earning the first point under D1 rules. Coramutla and junior Colt Tegtmeier (Madison, Wisc./James Madison Memorial) opened with a 6-3 win at #2, followed by a 6-4 win by sophomore Simon Kauppila (Chesterfield, Mo. / Marquette) and senior Rajan Vohra (Glen Head, N.Y. / North Shore) at #3. Juniors Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho) and Jeffrey Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) finished the sweep in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-2), at #1.  

The first two singles matches ended quickly, with Merrimack taking a 6-0, 6-1, win at #3 to get on the board, and Kauppila rolling by a similar 6-1, 6-0, score at #2. Merrimack evened things up at #2 with a 6-3, 6-1, win, setting the stage for a trio of three-set matches.

Merrimack took a 3-2 lead at #5, where Pedro Mancini knocked off Brandeis senior Ben Maffa (Lexington, Mass./Lexington), 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. Brandeis junior Hunter Levine (Weston, Mass./Cypress Bay) rallied to defeat the Warriors' Conrad Koch, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, at #6, setting up Coramutla's dramatic victory.

Brandeis returns to action on Sunday at noon against Tufts University.