Before the number 9 nationally ranked men’s tennis team headed into conference play, they had one final regional game of the season against MIT. The Judges prevailed against the Beavers with a final match score of 5-4 to improve their record 14-3.
The doubles matches put Brandeis into the lead taking two of the three. The two victories were from Colt Tegtmeier ’22 and Tyler Ng ’19 who won the third seat with a score of 8-3 and in the second seat Adam Tzeng ’22 and Jeffrey Chen ’22 claimed an 8-7 to give the Judges a lead. David Aizenberg ’20 and Anupreeth Coramulta ’21 fell in the first seat to a score of 5-8.
In the singles matches the Judges and the Beavers went back and forth bringing the match down to the wire. The Judges fell behind in the beginning when MIT took the win in the second seat, but bounced back with a victory in the number six seat by a Rajan Vohra ’21 win with a final score of 6-2, 6-0. The Judges pulled ahead for the second time leading the match with a victory by Tzeng in the number three seat with a final score of 6-3, 6-2.
The Judges dropped the number one seat in three seats; 6-1, 1-6, 3-6. It came down to the final match in the number four seat with Chen. With a three set battle, Chen took the victory home for the Judges at 6-3, 6-7, 6-2.
For the first time since 2010, the men headed to Florida for UAA Championship matchups. The quarter-final match was against number 12 Case Western Reserve University and the Judges pulled out the first win of the weekend with a final score of 5-3. The Judges came out strong to win two of three of the doubles matches. Tzeng and Chen won in the second seat match 8-2. In the number one seat, Aizenberg and Coramutla took the Spartans to a tie breaker and came out on top with a big win, 8-7, 7-2 to give the Judges the lead.
In the singles matches, the Spartans pulled ahead early with the first two wins in the fifth and six seats. In Brandeis Judges fashion, they bounded back. Aizenberg topped his opponent 6-4, 6-2. Tzeng continued with a win in the third seat at 6-3, 6-4 and to clinch the victory, Coramutla finished it off with a tiebreaking set 6-7 (9-11), 6-4, 6-3 finishing off with a killer ace.
This win gives the Judges a 15-win season for the seventh time in school history and the second time in a row.
The next day the Judges played in the semi-final match against number 2 ranked Chicago. The Judges started out like they always do with a 2-1 victory in the doubles matches. Tzeng and Vohra clinched the win in the second seat. It was the first time they were paired together this season and topped Chicago with a score of 8-6. The second win was from Ng and Tegtmeier who took it to a tie breaker, 8-7, 7-5. In the singles action, Brandeis was topped by Chicago in the fifth seat, and Coramutla came back with a win in the second seat to earn back the lead for Brandeis. Tzeng then took a 7-5, 6-2 decision in the third seat. The match would be decided from the first and fourth seats. Aizenberg came out on top with a final score of 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 winning the last of five games. Nikhil Das ’21 came back from behind and earned the final win for the Judges at 3-6, 6-3, 3-4 to improve their record to 16-3 and advance the to UAA Championship match for the first time in program history.
The next day the Judges faced the Emory Eagles, but could not pull off another upset and became UAA Tournament finalist for the first time in program history as the number four seat coming into the tournament. The Judges’ singular win from the match came from Tzeng and Vohra in the second seat doubles match with a score of 8-6.
Despite the loss, the second place finish is the second-best in program history; surpassed by the 1989 team’s title. The Judges anxiously wait for the NCAA tournament bids to be announced to see if their season continues.
