ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The seventh-seeded Brandeis University women's tennis team knocked off two nationally-ranked opponents in doubles action, but the Judges fell to second-seeded Emory, 4-1, in the opening round of the 2025 University Athletic Association tournament in Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida, today.
TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 9-7, ranked #33 nationally in Division III by Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
• Emory: 14-4, ranked #2 nationally by ITA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges were the only lower-seeded team to earn a point in today's action by claiming two out of three doubles matches.
• After Emory's tandem of Yanire Marte and Eliza McPherrron defeated Brandeis seniors Anastasia Sia (Thessaloniki, Greece/Anatolia College) and Cecilia Denis (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion), 6-3, the Judges rallied to win the next two.
• At #2, sophomore Mandy Reyes (Manila, Philippines/Laurel Springs Academy) and junior Nancy Zhang (Shanghai, China/Shanghai International School) stunned EU's Izabele Antanavicius and Iris Berman, 6-4. The Eagle pair are ranked #4 in Division III in the ITA's latest national doubles rankings.
• Emory won the first two games, but the Judges broke right back to even things at 2-all. After three straight holds, Brandeis won game 7 to take a 4-3 lead. After going back and forth in the next three games, the Judges broke Antanavicius to win, 6-4.
• With the doubles point coming down to #1, Brandeis junior Rebecca Suarez (New York, N.Y./International Virtual Learning Academy) and senior Bhakti Parwani (Ahmedabad, India/Kumkum School) met Emory's Dakota Fordham and Emily Kantrovitz, ranked #18 nationally. After Emory won the first two games, Brandeis took control by winning the next four in a row to take a 4-2 lead.
• The Eagles broke back to even the match at 4-all, but Brandeis answered the call with a break to go up 5-4. Suarez held in the 10^th game for a 6-4 win and a 1-0 lead in the overall match.
• The Judges were competitive in singles, but unable to knock off the Eagles. Parwani at #2 earned a first-set win and was tied at 4-all in the second when the match was clinched, while Sia dropped the first, 6-2, and was also tied at four in the second at match's end.
• Emory's singles wins came at #3, where Berman defeated sophomore Chahana Budhbhatti (Ahmedabad, India/Aavishkar School), 6-1, 6-1; #4, where Marte knocked of Zhang, 6-2, 6-4; #6, where Dakota Fordham – who played #1 for NYU last year – bested first-year Charly Saltz (Natick, Mass./Learning Post Academy), 6-0, 6-2; and at #1, where Kantrovitz avenged her loss to Suarez, 6-2, 6-3, to clinch the victory.

UP NEXT

• The seventh-seeded Judges will face sixth-seeded and 29^th-ranked NYU tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in the consolation semifinals.