ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The Brandeis University women's tennis team dropped an epic match against rivals NYU today in the consolation semifinals of the 2026 University Athletic Association tournament at Sanlando Park in Florida.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 10-9.
• NYU: 10-4.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The marathon match started with the doubles point. NYU cruised to a 6-0 win at #2, but Brandeis junior Chahana Budhbhatti (Ahmedabad, India/Aavishkar School) and first-year Avani Chitale (Ahmedabad, India/Cosmos Castle School) answered with a 6-4 win at #3.
• At the top spot, senior Rebecca Suarez (New York, N.Y./International Virtual Learning Academy) and junior Mandy Reyes (Manila, Philippines/Laurel Springs School) were even with their foes through the first 10 games before the Judges picked up a break in the 11^th to take a 6-5 lead. Suarez served out the match to give Brandeis a 7-5 win and a 1-0 lead.
• First-year Galia Harmelin (Seattle, Wash./University Prep) gave Brandeis a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 7-5, win at #6.
• NYU picked up the next two wins of the match in straight sets at #1 and #3, taking tiebreakers in the second set at #1 and in the first set at #3. That tiebreaker between Chitale and NYU's Sophia Yang went to 11-9 before the Violet player prevailed.  
• NYU took a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, win at #4 to move within a point of victory, but another Judge first-year, Milana Sofizade (Sarasota, Fla./IMG Academy) outlasted her opponent, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
• That set up an epic three-set match between Budhbhatti and NYU's Victoria Wang. Wang won the first set, 7-5, but Budhbhatti captured the second in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5).
• The two players stayed on serve throughout the third set, leading to a tiebreaker to decide who would head to the fifth-place match. Budhbhatti raced out to a 4-0 lead, but Wang responded with the next two points headed into the changeover. She won the next two points as well, tying things at 4-all.
• Budhbhatti won the next two to get to 6-4, picking up two match points. Wang survived and got to the second changeover at 6-all. The Violet player then took the next two out of the break to secure the victory, 8-6.

UP NEXT

• The Judges will take on the University of Rochester in the UAA tournament seventh-place match tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.