CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Brandeis University sophomore Daniel Shemesh of Modiin, Israel, battled to a third set, but fell in the third set, 6-4, 2-6, 1-6, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Singles Championships hosted by the University of the South in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
 
Shemesh, ranked #23 in Division III, met #12-ranked Drew Goldman of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. The two held serve in the first two games of the match, with Shemesh holding at love in the second. The next two games were each service breaks, with neither player able to hold on a deuce point. Shemesh followed up with his second break of the set at 40-15 to take a 3-2 lead. Serve held the rest of the set, with Shemesh fending off three break points to take it, 6-4.
 
In the second set, serve held through the first five games, with Goldman taking a 3-2 lead. The Sagehen player closed out the set by winning 12 of the final 13 points, breaking at love to go up, 4-2, then holding at love for a 5-2 lead. He closed out the set, 6-2, with a win at 40-15.
 
Goldman started the third set strong by winning, 40-0, in the first game, then breaking at 40-30 in the second. Goldman held on with a deuce-point win in game three, before Shemesh held off two break points in game four to cut his deficit to 3-1. The Pomona-Pitzer player then won the final three games, holding at love, breaking on a deuce point and winning, 40-15, to take the 6-1 victory in the decisive set.
 
After winning 61 percent of the points on his own serve and converting 2-of-3 break points in the first set, Shemesh won just 45 percent of the points in the second and third sets, while going 0-for-4 on break point opportunities. He was able to fight off nine of the 14 break points he faced throughout the match, but the five breaks that Goldman converted were enough to give him the victory.