WELLESLEY, Mass. — No. 12 Wellesley College tennis dropped a 5-2 non-conference contest to Brandeis University at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on Sunday.

Brandeis (7-6) started doubles by grabbing a 6-2 win at the top line of doubles. Senior Bhakti Parwani (Ahmedabad, India) and junior Rebecca Suarez (New York, N.Y.) toppled first years Kotistha Modak (Chennai, India) and Sofia Corte-Real (Stamford, Conn.).

The Blue (13-3) struck back with junior Emilee Pak (Chicago, Ill.) and first year Rianna Mariotti (Forest Hills, N.Y.) winning 6-3 at No. 2 doubles over junior Nancy Zhang (Shanghai, China) and sophomore Mandy Reyes (Manila, Philippines).

It all came down to No. 3 for the doubles point. Despite Wellesley serving for the match at 5-4, the Judges fought back to force a 6-6 tiebreak. Ultimately, Brandeis seniors Cecilia Denis (Ardmore, Pa.) and Anastasia Sia (Thessaloniki, Greece) defeated Wellesley sophomore Suzanne Xu (Boyds, Md.) and first year Sophie Buttorff (Tacoma, Wash.) by a 7-2 tiebreaker score to go up 1-0.

Suarez upped the visitors' lead to 2-0 by putting together a 6-4, 6-0 performance versus Xu at No. 1 singles.

Buttorff staged a key comeback for Wellesley with sophomore Chahana Budhbhatti (Ahmedabad, India) at No. 3 singles. Zhang led 6-1, 5-2 when Buttorff turned the tide, winning five straight games to capture a 7-5 second set. Buttorff rode the momentum into a 6-3 winning third set to get the Blue on the board.

Corte-Real also scored a three set win at No. 2 singles to even the match up at 2-2. Corte-Real won a 6-4 opener over Budhbhatti before the Brandeis senior leveled the match with a 6-3 second. A Corte-Real break early in the set proved to be the difference in a 6-4 deciding set.

The Judges got back in front at No. 4 singles. Sia battled with first year Nandini Patel (Phoenix, Ariz.), winning 6-4, 7-5 and coming back from down 5-2 in the latter set.

Reyes pushed past sophomore Kriti Sarav (Chicago, Ill.), 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles to give Brandeis a fourth that decided the match.

Finally, Mariotti and first year Charly Saltz (Natick, Mass.) fought it out at No. 6 singles. Saltz won a pair of tightly contested sets 7-6(5), 7-6(5). 

Up next, the Blue will host Smith College on Saturday, April 19 at 12:00 PM. The Judges travel to Trinity College on Wednesday, April 16 for a 4:00 PM match.