WALTHAM, Mass. – In the spring season opener for both teams, the #31-ranked Brandeis women's tennis team hosted #10 MIT in the Gosman Athletic Center for a 3 p.m. start. More than six-and-a-half hours later, the Judges came up just short of an upset, falling to the Engineers, 5-4, after MIT won the final match at #6 in three sets.
TEAM RECORDS & RANKINGS
- Brandeis: 0-1, ranked #31 in Division III by ITA.
- MIT: 1-0, ranked #10 in Division III by ITA.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- In a sign of things to come, MIT edged Brandeis in doubles action to start. The Judges got on the board first at #1, where sophomore Rebecca Suarez (Huntington, N.Y./International Virtual Learning Academy) and junior Bhakti Parwani (Ahmedabad, India/Kumkum School) were 8-2 winners.
- The Engineers knotted things up with an 8-5 win at #2, then saw Saina Deshpande and Anastasia Samets outlast junior Cecilia Denis (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) and first-year Chahana Budhbatti (Ahmedabad, India/Aavishkar School), 8-7, winning the tiebreaker, 8-6.
- The visitors extended their lead to 3-1 with a 7-5, 6-2 win at #3, but Brandeis evened things up at the top of the order. Parwani earned her second win of the day over Kimberly Liao at #2, 6-4, 6-4. Suarez followed it up with a three-set win over Katherine Shepherd Johnson, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
- The Judges suffered a setback at #4 when senior Sabrina Loui (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) withdrew after falling behind 3-0 in the first set, forcing the Judges to have to win the final two matches in order to pull the upset.
- Budhbatti took care of business at #5, 6-2, 6-4, leaving it up to junior Anastasia Sia (Thessaloniki, Greece/Anatolia College). Sia won the first set, 6-2, against Anastasia Samets of MIT, but the visitor rallied with a late break to force a tiebreaker, which she won, 7-2, forcing a decisive third set. Samets outlasted Sia, 6-2, in the last set of the day to help MIT avoid the upset.
UP NEXT
- Brandeis heads to California in two weeks for four matches over February break. They open their trip at #21 CalTech on Feb. 19, and face Whittier College later that same afternoon.