ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- For the first time since 2010, the Brandeis University men's tennis team has advanced to championship semifinals of the University Athletic Association (UAA) tournament, as the tenth-ranked and fourth-seeded Judges held off 12th-ranked and fifth-seeded Case Western Reserve, 5-3, in Sanlando Park in Florida. With the win, the Judges improve to 15-3, while the Spartans fall to 19-9.
The Judges rallied to take a 2-1 lead after doubles play. The Spartan team of Chaitanya Aduru and Aaron Umen defeated Brandeis senior (Tyler Ng Great Neck, N.Y. / Great Neck South) and rookie Colt Tegtmeier (Madison, Wisc. / James Madison Memorial), 8-3, at #3. Brandeis bounced back with another big win at #2, where rookies Adam Tzeng (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) and Jeffrey Chen (Northfield, Ill. / New Trier) bounced Matthew Chen and Zach Hennessey, 8-2. The #1 singles match came down to a tiebreaker, and Judge junior David Aizenberg (Highland Park, lll./Highland Park) and sophomore Anupreeth Coramutla (Monroe Township, N.J./Phillips Andover) came up big, 8-7 (7-3), to give the Judges the lead.
Case Western Reserve surged to an early 3-2 lead in singles play, with Chaitanya besting Brandeis sophomore Nikhil Das (Smithfield, R.I. / Moses Brown School) at #5, 6-2, 6-0, and Sam Concannon took out sophomore Rajan Vohra (Glen Head, N.Y. / North Shore), 6-4, 6-3, at #6.
Brandeis bounced back with a nice win at #1 singles, where Aizenberg topped Matthew Chen, 6-4, 6-2, winning the final five games of the match to knot things up at 3-3. Tzeng continued his terrific rookie season with a 6-3, 6-4, win over Kanam, at #3. The Judges got the clinch at #2, where Coramutla dropped a lengthy tiebreaker in the first set but came back to win the next two, 6-7 (9-11), 6-4, 6-3. Coramutla won the final three games of the match, serving it out with a big ace.
With the win, Brandeis clinches a 15-win season for the seventh time in school history and the second in a row. The Judges will advance to meet top-seeded and second-ranked Chicago in the semifinals tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.