From Brandeis University Athletics

The Brandeis University men's tennis team, ranked #28 in Division III and seeded fifth in the University Athletic Association tournament, had little trouble with sixth-seeded and #24-ranked Carnegie Mellon today in the UAA fifth-place match.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 13-7, #28 in Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
• Carnegie Mellon: 7-10, #24 in Division III by the ITA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges went ahead 2-1 after doubles action. Seniors Simon Kauppila (Chesterfield, Mo./Marquette H.S.) and Hunter Levine (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay) got on the board first at #2 with an 8-3 win.
• CMU evened things up with an 8-6 win at #1, but first-year Alex Merson (Palisades Park, N.J. / Tenafly) and sophomore Chen Liang (Shanghai, China / Shanghai Pinghe School) won by the same score at #3 to give Brandeis the edge headed into singles.
• Merson provided the team's first singles win as well, winning 6-4, 6-1, at #4.
• The Judges' #1 and #2 players bounced back from their doubles loss to pick up the final two points of the match. Junior Dylan Walters (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School) had a 6-4, 6-2, at the top spot, while first-year Tommy Harrison (London, England/National Extension College) finished things off at #2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.
• Brandeis owned one-set leads in the remaining three unfinished matches as well.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Seeds held in this year's tournament in all placement matches except for third place.
• The Judges have gone 2-1 at the last two UAA tournaments and three of the last four, having finished in second place in 2019 and fifth in 2017.