Box Score

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Brandeis University tandem of junior Bhakti Parwani (Ahmedabad, India/Kumkum School) and sophomore Rebecca Suarez (Huntington, N.Y./International Virtual Learning Academy) battled the top-seeded team from national team semifinalists Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Doubles tournament today in St. Louis, but the Judges were unable to pull the upset, falling 6-2. 7-5.

The Judges faced the Athenas' Nikolina Batoshvili and Alisha Chulani, who were top-seeded and 19-2 on the season. They had handed Batoshvili a loss earlier in the season with a different opponent, a 6-3 decision in a single set.

Playing a standard best-of-three match with no deuce points in the NCAA Tournament, the Judges dropped the first set, 6-2. The CMS team picked up a break of serve in the second game of the match, but the Judges answered back with a break of their own, tying the set at 2-all. The Athena team then rattled off four straight games, breaking twice, to take a 1-0 lead.

In the second set, the Judges had a chance to go up early, but couldn't convert a 40-15 lead. CMS picked up the first break of the second set in Game 4, but Brandeis broke right back to get back on serve to get to 3-2. The set stayed on serve into the 12^th game. The Judges took a 30-0 lead, but a double fault proved costly, allowing the CMS team to get back in the game. They rallied to win the final four points of the match and take the second set, 7-5, to advance to the second round.

Parwani and Suarez conclude the 2023-24 season with an 18-5 record, the highest single-season win total in program history. They were ranked #11 in Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and will return with entire starting lineup for the 2024-25 season.