From Brandeis University Athletics/Wellesley College Athletics
Visiting Brandeis University earned the final three victories in the match, breaking a 3-3 tie, to take a 6-3 win over Wellesley College tennis on Saturday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.
No. 19 Brandeis improves to 5-2 on the season with their sixth straight victory over Wellesley. The Blue, who recently moved up to No. 25 in the latest ITA Division III National Poll, are now 3-3 on the year.
Wellesley junior Justine Huang (Coto de Caza, Calif.) and sophomore Selina Peng (Taichung, Taiwan) opened doubles with a victory for the Blue, defeating Brandeis junior Olivia Leavitt (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) and senior Haley Cohen (Cherry Hill, N.J./Laurel Springs Prep), 8-5, at No. 1 singles. However, Brandeis would strike back to take the remaining two doubles matches to take a 2-1 edge into singles play.
Junior Keren Khromchenko (Manalapan, N.J./Allied Academy of Health and Science) and first-year Lauren Bertsch (Middletown, R.I./LaSalle Academy) knotted the score at 1-1 with an 8-4 victory over Wellesley first years Lizzy Kong (Mason, Ohio) and Lily Chu (Princeton, N.J.) at No. 2 doubles. The Judges then jumped to the early lead when junior Michele Lehat (Great Neck , N.Y./John L. Miller Great Neck North) and first year Rachel Zubrinsky (Waxhaw, N.C./Marvin Ridge) defeated sophomore Korina Hernandez (Tampa, Fla.) and first year Abigail Schleichkorn (Pacific Palisades, Calif.), 8-5, to close out doubles play at No. 3.
Khromchenko opened singles play with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Peng at No. 2 to increase the Brandeis lead to 3-1, but Huang and Kong would follow with back-to-back Wellesley wins to tie the score midway through the singles matches. Huang earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Cohen at No. 1, while Kong defeated Leavitt in three sets at No. 3, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Brandeis responded to the Wellesley rally by sweeping the three remaining matches to take the 6-3 win. Lehat defeated Hernandez, 6-3, 6-0 at No. 5, before Bertsch clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Blue junior Sojin Ki (Irvine, Calif.) at No. 4. Zubrinsky added the final point for the Judges with a tight 7-6 (7), 6-3 win over Chu in the No. 6 singles match.