Since the last publication of The Hoot, the Brandeis men’s tennis team faced off against Bryant, Bentley, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Caltech and Redlands, tying against Bentley and falling to everyone else. The women’s tennis team beat Whittier and Caltech, but fell to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Redlands and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
On Feb. 3, Brandeis faced off against Bryant. Bryant effortlessly took home the first three doubles matches 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. At singles, the Judges scored their first win when Alex Merson ‘26 took a 6-4, 6-1 decision, and Dylan Walters ’24 managed to eke out a victory 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. However, Tommy Harrison ’26 was not as successful, losing 2-6, 6-4, 4-6. In the end, Brandeis lost 5-2 to the Bryant Bulldogs.
Next, the men’s team returned to Waltham on Feb. 15th to play against Bentley. The game opened with a promising start as Walters and Harrison took home the doubles point 6-3. Merson and Aaron Basye ’24 had a harder time, but ultimately took the victory 7-5. Merson performed better at singles where he gained a 6-2, 6-3 victory. On the other hand, Harrison suffered a 7-5, 6-3 loss. Bentley continued with their momentum, and defeated Walters 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. This was a lengthy match, and the remaining 3 matches were abandoned due to time constraints, resulting in a tie 2-2.
The team next travelled to California and faced off against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on the 18th. Again, Brandeis won the doubles matches as Basye and Merson defeated Claremont 6-4 and Huasen Dong ‘27 and Pierce Garbet ‘27 eked out 7-6. The Judges’ luck would run out, however, when Claremont won all 6 singles matches. Garbett played well in the final match, but ultimately took a 7-6, 6-2 loss when the tiebreaker resulted in a 2-7 defeat. The final score was a 6-1 loss.
Next, the team faced off against Redlands on Feb. 22nd. The Judges faced mixed odds at doubles, grabbing an initial 8-2 victory but then an 8-5 loss. Redlands then picked up an 8-6 doubles victory, gaining a 1-point lead that Brandeis couldn’t top, despite winning 3 points at singles. The final score was a 5-4 loss.
Lastly, the men’s team faced Caltech on the 23rd. Dylan and Harrison took an early 8-4 victory in doubles, but Dong and Garbett suffered a 6-8 loss and match #3 was a win by default for Caltech. In singles, Walters played well in Match #1, winning 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 with a 10-3 tiebreaker, but that was not enough to prevent Brandeis from losing the other singles matches. In particular, Basye retired after losing 0-6 and there was another WD. The final score was 2-7 and a loss for Brandeis.
The women’s team opened their season on Feb. 10th by facing off against visiting team MIT. At #1, Rebecca Suarez ’26 and Bhakti Parwani ’25 scored an 8-2 victory against the Engineers, but MIT took the other two doubles matches, including a narrow victory (8-7 and 8-6 tiebreaker) against Cecilia Denis ’25 and Chahana Budhbatti ’27. MIT then took a 7-5, 6-2 win at singles, but Parwani took a 6-4, 6-4 win and Suarez triumphed 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. However, Sabrina Loui ’24 fell 3-0 and withdrew after the first set. Budhbatti then scored a 6-2, 6-4 victory. The final match saw Anastasia Sia ’25 score an early 6-2 victory, and then suffer a 7-2 loss with a tiebreaker. In the final, decisive set, Sia fell 6-2, giving MIT a narrow 5-4 victory.
On the 21st, the Judges travelled to California to face off against Whittier. In a resounding success, Brandeis won all the doubles; Jiayi Zhang ’24 and Mandy Reys ’27 by 8-0, Ella Chase ‘26 and Ella Subramanian ‘24 by 8-3 and Loui and Sanjana Kumar ‘27 by 8-2. The Judges continued to coast throught singles. Match #5 was especially noteworthy. Subramanian initially faced an uphill climb, narrowly managing to win 7-6. But in the second set, she won 6-2. The final score was Brandeis 8-1.
Later that day, the women’s team faced Redlands. Parwani and Suarez claimed an 8-4 win, but the Judges lost their momentum and ended up trailing 2-1. They fared little better in singles, although Parwani took home a 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 win. Ultimately the Judges lost 7-2.
Next, the team faced Caltech on the 22rd. As with Whittier, Brandeis took home all the doubles. Denis and Budhbhatti won 8-3, Reys and Zhang won 8-4 and Suarez and Parwani won 8-4 as well. However, Brandeis struggled with singles, the only exception being a dramatic win by Budhbhatti 6-4, 6-1. In the end, the final match came down to Lika Bolkvadze ‘27. The first year won resoundlingly 6-1, but she faced a tougher challenge in the second set. However, Bolkvadze persevered, and ultimately managed to clinch a 7-6 victory. The final score was 5-4 and a Brandeis victory.
Lastly, the team faced Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on the 23rd. Suarez and Parwani scored an early 6-3 victory, as did Denis and Budhbhatti, allowing them to claim the doubles point. But they fell in singles, losing 5 matches. In Match #6, however, Bolkvadze shone again with a 6-1, 7-5 victory. The final score was a 5-2 loss.
In the future, both teams will be returning to New England. The men’s team will face Middlebury on March 3, and the women’s team will face Franklin Pierce and Wheaton on the same day.
