CLAREMONT, Calif. – Brandeis University junior Rebecca Suarez (New York, N.Y./International Virtual Learning Academy) and senior Bhakti Parwani (Ahmedabad, India/Kumkum School) played a pair of two-hour, three-set matches today at the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships at the Biszantz Tennis Center at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, but the Judges were unable to pull out a victory in their two contests.
 
In the opening match of the day, Suarez played one of the longest singles matches of the first round, lasting more than 2:30 hours against Carmen Bufkin of Cal Lutheran.
 
In the first set, service holds were hard to come by, with only three in the entire set. Two of those went to Bufkin, who won the opener, 6-3. In the second set, Suarez opened with a break of serve and held, taking an early 2-0 lead, and she was able to maintain her advantage throughout the set, winning that one by the same score, 6-3.
 
In the decisive third set, Bufkin got off to another great start, taking a 5-3 lead. Suarez held serve in game 9 to get within 5-4, then earned another break as Bufkin served for the match, evening things up at 5-all. Both players held serve in Games 11 and 12, sending the final set to a tiebreaker. In the ultimate game of the match, Bufkin used an early mini-break and was able to edge Suarez, 7-5, to advance to the second round of the tournament, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).
 
In doubles action, Suarez and Parwani met Angie Zhou and Marissa Markey of Pomona-Pitzer, the fourth seeds in the tournament. In the opening set, the teams held serve the first time through the service order. Markey held to start the second time through, then the Sagehen duo earned a break of serve to take a 4-2 lead. The Judges were able to break in the next game to get back on serve at 4-3. The sides held again to get to 5-4. Brandeis fended off a break attempt in Game 10 by winning a deuce point, but the Judges were unable to turn the tables in Game 11, as PP took a 6-5 lead. They were able get a break on Parwani's serve in Game 12 to take the first set, 7-5.
 
The Judges responded early in the second set, winning all four games the first time through the rotation to take a 4-0 lead. The Pomona-Pitzer duo held in the fifth game and earned their first break of the set against Suarez in the next game to claw within 4-2. After PP held again to get within 4-3, Parwani answered with a hold of her own to get the Judges within a game of a third set. They broke Markey in Game 9 to force the decisive set.
 
The Sagehens bounced back from their set loss by winning the first five games of the third. The Judges broke Zhou on her team's first attempt to serve for the match, and Parwani held to get to 5-2. Markey won the final game at 40-30 to send PP on to the second round, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.