Blue Tennis Drops 5-4 Nailbiter to #24 Brandeis

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The #30 Wellesley College tennis team nearly pulled out an upset over #24 Brandeis, but a singles comeback fell short and the Blue dropped a heartbreaker, 5-4. The match served as spring opener for Wellesley and set the team's overall mark to 9-4. 

Brandeis opened the match by grabbing a 2-1 advantage after doubles play. Wellesley's third team of senior Kendall Tada and first-year Samantha Stone picked up the Blue's doubles point, posting an 8-6 win over Roberta Bergstein and Sarita Biswas. The Judges got a win in the one spot, as Carley Cooke and Simone Vandroff topped junior Sojung Lee and first-year Carina Chen, 8-4. The hosts nabbed their second point at two doubles, with Allyson Bernstein and Marissa Lazar topping first-years Andjela Stojkovic and Lina Ye, 8-5. 

In singles, Wellesley kept things close in a tight battle, winning at two, three, and six. Brandeis pushed the score to 3-1 with a Cooke win over Lee at one (6-2, 6-3), but Wellesley's Stojkovic fired back with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Bergstein at three to make the match score, 3-2. Wellesley then evened the match at 3-3 with a marathon win from Chen at two. The rookie battled back from a first set loss to top Brandeis' Bernstein, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4). 

Brandeis regained momentum with a win from Emily Eska at five, as she topped Stone, 6-1, 6-1, to make it 4-3 Judges. Wellesley nearly tied the match in the fourth flight, but Brandeis' Vandroff was able to fend off Wellesley's Ye to secure match point for the Judges. Vandroff battled back from down a set, winning the second-set tie-breaker and then taking the third set to complete the 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win.

Wellesley took the last match on court, with the Blue's Tada topping Alexa Katz, 6-4, 1-6, (10-8), to set the final match score to 5-4. 

The Blue will return to action on their spring break trip to California. The team will take on Cal State Northridge on Sunday, March 23rd at 3:00pm.