LATHAM, N.Y. – The 10th-ranked Brandeis men's tennis team faced a deficit after doubles for only the third time this season, but the Judges bounced back to take five of six singles matches and defeat host #33 RPI, 6-3, tonight. The Judges improve to 7-1 on the season, while the Engineers fall to 3-3.
Brandeis got off to a fast start in doubles, with rookies Jeff Chen (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) and Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) winning 8-3, at #2, over Clay Thompson and Brian Niguidula. RPI bounced back with a couple of late wins at #1 and #3. Seniors Andrew Imrie and Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez earned an 8-6 win at the top spot over Brandeis's David Aizenberg (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) and Anupreeth Coramutla (Monroe Township, N.J./Phillips Andover). At #3, it came down to a tiebreaker, and the hosts' Zack Ebenfield and Dylan Paine emerged with an 8-7 (8-6) win over Judge sophomores Nikhil Das (Smithfield, R.I./Moses Brown School) and Rajan Vohra (Glen Head, N.Y. / North Shore).
In singles action, the Engineers opened their advantage with a quick 6-3, 6-1, win at #2 by Thompson over Coramutla. The Judges stormed back and won the final five matches. Chen and Vohra rolled at #5 and #6, losing just six games between them to tie the match up. Chen was a 6-2, 6-0, winner at #5, while Vohra won 6-0, 6-4, at #6.
Aizenberg put Brandeis in the lead with a tight two-set win at #1, 7-5, 6-4, over Castillo-Sanchez. In a pair of three-setters, the Judges prevailed in both at nearly the same time to clinch victory. Tzeng rallied from a set down to defeat Imrie, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, while Das held off Niguidula, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3.
The Judges return to action tomorrow afternoon with their first top-10 matchup, against #2-ranked Middlebury.