The men’s tennis team spent this past weekend in Vermont at their first competition of the year, the two-day Middlebury Invitational, hosted by Middlebury College. The Judges were led by their younger players in the season opener.
Brandeis’ David Aizenberg ’20 was the sole winner for the Judges, winning the D flight in singles play. Aizenberg was the top seed going into the D flight. He defeated a match-up against host Middlebury College in the first round before, 6-3, 6-2. He went on to beat RPI by a score of 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and Tufts, 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals. In the finals, Aizenberg defeated another Tufts player, 7-5, 6-3, to seal the flight win. Aizenberg is the first to win a draw at Middlebury for the Judges since 2010.
Mitchell Ostrovsky ’20 was close behind Aizenberg, making it to the semifinals of the C flight in singles play as well. Ostrovsky was the top seed in the C flight. Ostrovsky easily got past the first two rounds of play to make it to the semi-finals, but in the semi-final match Ostrovsky lost in a super tiebreaker to Skidmore by a score of 6-2, 4-6 and 6-10.
Zach Cihlar ’19, deputy sports editor for The Brandeis Hoot, had a nice run in the singles D flight. Cihlar beat his first opponent from Bates by a score of 6-0, 6-0 before playing two more three-set matches. In the quarter-finals he took out the second-seed from Tufts in the first set, but couldn’t secure the win. Ryan Bunis ’17 won his opener in the singles A flight, while Jordan Brodie ’19 won in the first round of the singles D flight.
In doubles action, Aizenberg again led the Judges with his partner, Tyler Ng ’19, making it to the championship round. The two easily beat their opponents in the first three rounds, beating Bates, Middlebury and Trinity College. It wasn’t until the final match that the pair saw defeat, losing to Middlebury’s top-seeded team in a close game of 8-6. Michael Arguello ’17 and Jackson Kogan ’19 beat Tufts by a score of 8-3 in their first match before being ousted in the second round.
The Brandeis men’s tennis team is back in action on Saturday, Oct. 1 for a weekend at Williams College for the ITA Northeast Regional tournament.
