Spring Break
TENNIS: Squaring off against Division I competition
by Ian Cutler
Sports Editor
Sports | 9/18/07
Posted online at 1:50 AM EST on 9/18/07
/ Last updated at 3:11 PM EST on 9/18/07
On paper, Simon Miller's '11 first-round match against Henrik Almstrom, a six-foot, five-inch rookie from Division I University of Rhode Island, should have been a mismatch. But Miller fought hard, eventually succumbing in a third-set tiebreaker.
Miller's match was one of many close calls for the men's tennis team at the Brown Invitational this weekend, as only one singles player-Scott Schulman '09-and one doubles team-Ian Reichek '11 and Mayur Kasetty '11-advanced past the first round of their bracket in the tournament.
Considering the competition, however, coach Ben Lamanna was upbeat about the Judges' performance. Brandeis was the only Division III team at the tournament, playing against Division I teams like Colgate University, Harvard University, Rhode Island and host Brown University.
"Our guys will definitely get to see this kind of competition at the top level of Division III, but not regularly," Lamanna said. "It was really awesome for our team to play that type of caliber [competition] and great to see what we can do against it."
Reichek and Kasetty achieved the most success, finishing in a tie for third out of eight teams in their section. They won a thrilling match in the first round, defeating the Colgate tandem of sophomore Michael Yassky and freshman Jamie Pellechi 8-7, winning the decisive tiebreaker 7-2.
They fell 8-5 in the next round to the Niagara University team of junior Nick Bolea and sophomore Alex Dauppe, but were still happy with their performance.
"A win in this tournament, regardless of who you play, is big since they're all Division I teams," Reichek said.
Schulman fared best among the singles players, finishing in a tie for seventh place in his bracket. He routed Colgate senior Sam Jacobson 6-1, 6-1 in the first round before losing to Bucknell University freshman Mark Malloy 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.
Miller also fared well following his first-round loss, winning two consolation matches before falling to Harvard University freshman Tim Wu 6-4, 6-4 in the ninth-place match.
Miller's match was one of many close calls for the men's tennis team at the Brown Invitational this weekend, as only one singles player-Scott Schulman '09-and one doubles team-Ian Reichek '11 and Mayur Kasetty '11-advanced past the first round of their bracket in the tournament.
Considering the competition, however, coach Ben Lamanna was upbeat about the Judges' performance. Brandeis was the only Division III team at the tournament, playing against Division I teams like Colgate University, Harvard University, Rhode Island and host Brown University.
"Our guys will definitely get to see this kind of competition at the top level of Division III, but not regularly," Lamanna said. "It was really awesome for our team to play that type of caliber [competition] and great to see what we can do against it."
Reichek and Kasetty achieved the most success, finishing in a tie for third out of eight teams in their section. They won a thrilling match in the first round, defeating the Colgate tandem of sophomore Michael Yassky and freshman Jamie Pellechi 8-7, winning the decisive tiebreaker 7-2.
They fell 8-5 in the next round to the Niagara University team of junior Nick Bolea and sophomore Alex Dauppe, but were still happy with their performance.
"A win in this tournament, regardless of who you play, is big since they're all Division I teams," Reichek said.
Schulman fared best among the singles players, finishing in a tie for seventh place in his bracket. He routed Colgate senior Sam Jacobson 6-1, 6-1 in the first round before losing to Bucknell University freshman Mark Malloy 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.
Miller also fared well following his first-round loss, winning two consolation matches before falling to Harvard University freshman Tim Wu 6-4, 6-4 in the ninth-place match.
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