Bhakti Parwani ’25 won the UAA Women’s Tennis Player of the Week on Feb. 27. This was the sophomore’s second time earning this title. It comes following her impressive record in both singles and doubles, holding 4-3 and 8-1 season records, respectively.
This award also comes on the tails of the women’s successful trip to the West Coast. The women’s tennis team went 2-0 against California Institute of Technology (CalTech) and Whittier College on their trip to California. Only hail impeded a third win against the University of Redlands. The Judges were leading 4-3 and up in one of their final singles matches at the time of play suspension.
The women played two matches on Feb. 20. They began against CalTech, eking out a 5-4 upset. Parwani won both her singles and doubles matches. At first doubles, she and teammate Rebecca Suarez ’26 won 8-6. Cecilia Denis ’25 and Ella Subramanian ’24 also pulled out an 8-4 win at third doubles.
Parwani continued her dominance in second singles, winning 6-1, 6-2. Anastasia Sia ’25 and Ella Chase ’26 clinched the final two points for Brandeis at fifth and sixth singles. Sia won 6-4, 6-3, while Chase came back from one set down, winning 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
After their tight CalTech match, the women proved dominant over Whittier, winning 8-1. The only Whittier win came from Suarez’s retirement in her first singles, her fourth match that day. None of their sets went closer than 6-3. This win brings the women’s tennis season record to 3-2.
The women were joined in California by the men’s tennis team, who lost against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and CalTech and won against the University of Redlands and Whittier.
The 2-7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps match included two close losses and one tight win. Tommy Harrison ’26 and Dylan Walters ’24 lost 7-8 (6-8) at first doubles. In matches like this one, a single point can change the outcome. Later in the day, Simon Kappila ’23 lost 3-6, 6-7 (5-7) in third singles, in another tedious tiebreaker.
Chen Liang ’24, playing in sixth singles, won in a third set super-tiebreaker. Although he dominated the super-tiebreaker, 10-0, the two players split sets 7-5, 3-6.
Their 4-5 loss against CalTech included many tight matches falling both in favor and against the Judges. Following the doubles round, Brandeis was leading 2-1. Walters and Harrison won 8-5 in first position while Alex Merson ’26 and Aryan Nijhawan ’25 won 8-7 (7-2) in third position.
Harrison came out on top again in second singles. He lost a tight second set, but dominated in other sets, winning 6-3, 6-7, 6-2. Fifth singles also went the distance, ending with a Judges loss in three sets. Hunter Levine ’23 lost there 3-6,7-5, 3-6.
Another tight head-to-head match against the University of Redlands had different results, with Brandeis winning 7-2. Four of the six singles matches went to three sets. Walters lost in first after splitting 6-4 sets and losing 7-10 in the super-tiebreaker. Harrison lost in second after dominating in the first set, eventually losing 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 5-7. Kauppila won in third singles 6-3, 5-7, 10-8, and Liang won 4-6, 6-4, 10-3. The Judges won 6-3 against Whittier with fewer close sets later that day.
Catch the women in action at home against Wheaton College on March 4, and Franklin Pierce University on March 5. The men are back at it in an away match against Colby College on March 12.
