The men’s and women’s tennis teams kicked off their season in California on Tuesday, Feb. 17 against Chapman University.
The men’s team opened the season with a 6-3 win over Chapman. The Judges went five for six in singles matches but struggled somewhat in doubles, falling behind 2-1. Brandeis’ number-one pair, Brian Granoff ’17 and Danny Lubarky ’16, won their match 8-3. However, two Chapman pairs took matches at numbers two and three.
As for the singles matches, five of six were completed in straight sets. Grandoff went 6-3, 6-4 in the top spot. Ryan Bunis ’17 bested his Chapman opponent 6-3, 6-4 at the number-two spot. Meanwhile, Michael Arguello ’17 won at the number three-spot 6-3, 7-6. Chapman gained their win in singles at number four by 6-2, 6-4.
However, Brandeis secured the match victory in the fifth singles match, when Eric Miller ’16 earned his second win with Brandeis, after transferring from Boston University. Miller won 6-3, 6-4. Alec Siegel ’15 defeated his Chapman opponent in three sets at number 6 with scores of 6-4, 4-6 and 10-7 in a super-tiebreaker.
The results were just as good for the women’s tennis team, as 25th-ranked Brandeis defeated 31st-ranked Chapman University, 7-2. The Judges won doubles 2-1. Haley Cohen ’18 and All-American Carley Cooke ’15 crushed Chapman’s All-American pair 8-2 in the number-one spot. At the number-two spot, Simone Vandroff ’15 and Maya Vasser ’16 won 8-5. Chapman, however took the number-three spot with a win over Brandeis’ Charlotte Aaron ’18 and Sarita Biswas ’16, 8-6.
In singles action, the women’s team matched the men’s scores, taking five of six matches. Cooke crushed her competitor in the number one spot, 6-2, 6-1. However, it was Brandeis’ Vandroff that dominated in the number four spot with a 6-1, 6-0 win. Cohen won 6-2, 7-5 at the number-two spot, while Vasser won 6-3, 6-4 at the number five spot. Hannah Marion ’17 picked up her first win of the season in the number six spot with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Chapman.
Both the men’s and women’s team now begin a few weeks of practice before their next match of the season. The women’s tennis team will face MIT Friday, March 13 at 5 p.m. at MIT. The men’s tennis team will play Middlebury away on Saturday, March 14 at 3:30 p.m.