ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The Brandeis University men's tennis team came back from a 3-2 deficit by winning a pair of three-set matches as the sixth-seeded and #25-ranked Judges upset #4 seed and #10-ranked Washington University Bears, 4-3, in the fifth-place match at the 2026 University Athletic Association championship at Sanlando Park in Florida today.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis: 13-6, ranked #20 in Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
- Washington U.: 12-8, ranked #10 in DIII by the ITA.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Judges' comeback started with the doubles point. After WashU won at #1, 6-3, Brandeis junior Pierce Garbett (Coral Gables, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and sophomore David Wang (Shanghai, China/Shanghai United International School) won by the same score at #3.
- Sophomore Daniel Shemesh (Modiin, Israel/Ironi Hey School Modiin) and junior Huasen Dong (Richmond Hills, Ont./Richmond Green Secondary School) gave the Judges the 1-0 advantage with a 6-4 win at #2.
- In singles action, Shemesh staked the Judges to a 2-0 lead with a decisive 6-2, 6-0, win at #1. The match was his first of the weekend to complete.
- WashU responded with three straight-set wins at #5, #4 and #3, to take a 3-2 lead, setting up the dramatic finish.
- At #2, Garbett came from behind for the second day in a row. He dropped the first set, 3-6, but won the second easily, 6-2. The third set stayed mostly on serve, with Garbett bouncing back from a 0-40 deficit late in the set to reach a tiebreaker. He took control of the tiebreaker by winning five of the first six points before the changeover and taking it, 7-2. Garbett finished his UAA tournament with a 5-1 record at #2 singles and #3 doubles.
- The match was decided at #6, where sophomore Aidan Wang-Fan (Richmond Hill, Ont./Bill Crothers Secondary School) met WashU's Nathan Tam. After Tam won the first set, 6-4, Wang-Fan got a late break in the second to take it, 6-4. Once again, the final set stayed primarily on serve, but Wang-Fan took advantage of two double-faults to win the final set, 6-4, at 40-15.
- With the win, the Judges post their highest finish at the UAA tournament since 2023, while their 13 wins are also the most since that season.
- It also marks the team's first win over WashU since 2020, and their first over the Bears the UAA tournament, with the previous win coming at the ITA Indoor Championships.
