From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The 18th-ranked Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team turned in another strong performance at the 2017 University Athletic Association Championships, defeating 19th-ranked Brandeis University 5-4 to finish fifth in the conference tournament at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida on Saturday.
The Spartans, seeded fifth in the field, finished the UAA Championships with a 2-1 record, and improved to 17-5 for the season. The victory was the team's seventh this season against a nationally-ranked opponent, with the squad going 7-4 against teams appearing in the ITA Division III Women's Tennis poll. Brandeis, the sixth-seeded squad at the UAA Championships, fell to 15-5 for the season with the loss and finished sixth at the conference tournament.
The Spartans were able to take two of the three doubles matches to carry a 2-1 advantage into the start of singles play. Junior Peyton Young and freshman Kendal Holladay bested Sophia He and Haley Cohen 8-4 at second doubles to gain the early lead, followed by junior Nithya Kanagasegar and sophomore Jessica Liu earning an 8-5 victory over Sabrina Neergaard and Olivia Leavitt at first singles. CWRU's only loss in doubles play came at third doubles, after junior Nina Cepeda and freshman Katrin Gurvich suffered an 8-6 setback to Keren Khromchenko and Michele Lehat.
Brandeis evened the score with a win in the fourth singles match from Leavitt over Cepeda, 6-1, 6-2. The Judges then took the 3-2 lead when Lehat bested freshman Katie Busch at sixth singles, 6-0, 6-0. However, the Spartans came back to even the score at 3-3 after Young defeated He, 6-4, 6-4, at fifth singles.
CWRU would take the next two match points to secure the victory, with Liu earning a 6-3, 7-5 win over Khromchenko at third singles, and Holladay claiming a three-set victory over Cohen at second singles, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. Kanagasegar dropped a hard-fought match against Neergaard at first singles to close out the day, 7-6 (13-11), 5-7, 6-4.
Liu and Young finished the UAA Championships with 2-1 records in singles play, while the duo of Liu and Kanagasegar added a 3-0 doubles record during the weekend. As a team, Case Western Reserve went 7-2 in doubles matches and 8-10 in singles play during the tournament.