Box Score WALTHAM, Mass. – In a battle between two of the top four teams in the Northeast in the first NCAA Regional Rankings, the third-ranked host Brandeis University men's tennis team defeated fourth-ranked Tufts, 6-3, in a match played indoors at the Gosman Athletic Center. Brandeis improves to 3-1 with the win, while Tufts falls to 3-1.
Tufts got the initial edge in the match, winning the first doubles match at #3, 8-5, with Nike Hereford and Rishabh Sharda knocking off Brandeis's Rajan Vohra (Glen Head, N.Y. / North Shore) and Simon Kauppila (Chesterfield, Mo. / Marquette). The Judges bounced back with late breaks of serve at #1 and #2 to take the lead into singles. Juniors Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) and Jeffrey Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) won at the top spot, 8-6, against Boris Sorkin and Josh Belandres to tie things up. The Judge tandem are ranked fifth in the region, while the Jumbos are #3. Senior Anupreeth Coramutla (Monroe Township, N.J./Phillips Andover) and junior Colt Tegtmeier (Madison, Wisc./James Madison Memorial) gave the hosts their first lead with an 8-5 win at #2 over Paris Pentoussis and Mauricio Gutierrez.
In singles action, Sorkin – the top-ranked player in the Northeast – evened things at 2-all with a 7-5, 6-2, win over third-ranked Coramutla at #1. The next two matches went to three sets, with Brandeis coming from a set down to win both. Chen bounced back to defeat Shardha at #3 by winning 12 of the last 15 games, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3. In another battle of ranked players at #2, Tzeng – ranked 11th in the region – topped ninth-ranked Isaac Gorelik, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, to put Brandeis within one match of victory.
Tufts again took the first match of the third group, as Pentoussis knocked off Kauppila, 6-4, 6-3. First-year Dylan Walters (Baltimore, Md. / Gilman School) clinched the victory at #5, posting a 6-3, 6-2, win over Jack Moldenhauer. The win was Brandeis's only straight-set victory of the match. Tegtmeier rounded out the scoring with a 6-2, 3-6, 10-6, win at #6, taking the final set in a super tiebreaker.
The Judges return to action on Thursday, April 29, when they take on Bridgewater State.
