BABSON PARK, Mass. – The 19
th-ranked Brandeis men's tennis team, in its highest ranked match since 2022, took an early lead, but the Judges couldn't hang on, suffering a 5-2 defeat at #15-ranked Babson today.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis: 10-5, ranked #19 in Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
- Babson: 15-4, ranked #15 in Division III by the ITA.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Judges took the doubles point to get off to a fast start. The Beavers won the first match at #1, 6-3, but sophomore Daniel Shemesh (Modiin, Israel/Ironi Hey School Modiin) and first-year Muaz Malik (Dubai, UAE/Laurel Springs School) tied things up at #2, 6-4.
- At #3, junior Pierce Garbett (Coral Gables, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and sophomore David Wang (Shanghai, China/Shanghai United International School) extended their foes to a tiebreaker, but came through with a 7-6 (8-6) win to get Brandeis on the board.
- The Beavers won in straight sets at #6 to tie the score, then won the first of four three-set matches at #2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to take a 2-1 lead.
- Malik rallied from a set down at #3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) to even the score at 2-2.
- In the final three matches, Babson won a tiebreaker in each to secure their victories. At #4, they took a 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 decision to get within one point of the win, then clinched at #5, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.
- The Beavers' Edward Wang outlasted Shemesh at the top spot in the final match of the day, 3-6, 6-5, 7-6 (8-6), to close out the win.
- The match was the first for Brandeis coach Alan Dubrovsky, who spent the previous three years as Babson's associate head coach under Michael Kopelman – himself a former Brandeis assistant coach.
UP NEXT
- The Judges will meet their fifth top-15 opponent of the season on Saturday afternoon at #9 Bowdoin College.
