WALTHAM, Mass. - The Simmons College women's tennis team was defeated by nationally ranked number 27 Brandeis University, 8-1, this afternoon in Waltham, Mass. The Sharks' 11-match win streak comes to an end as they fall to 14-3 on the season with their first road loss of the year, while the host Judges improve to 8-8.

Simmons scored at number two doubles as juniors Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) (6-9 singles, 13-6 doubles) and Caroline Khoury (Portsmouth, Ohio) (6-6 singles, 10-5 doubles) combined to defeat the Brandeis pair of senior Dylan Schlesinger (Miami, Fla.) and junior Maya Vasser (New Rochelle, N.Y.), 8-4. The Sharks' pair extend their doubles win streak to four straight matches.

Junior Emily Eska (Princeton, Mass.) and first year Danielle Simms (Chattanooga, Tenn.) paired up at number three doubles to give the Judges their first point of the afternoon with an 8-1 triumph over the Sharks' duo of first year Mary Matthews (Wakefield, R.I.) (7-0 singles, 2-1 doubles) and sophomore Ashley Pierce (Carver, Mass.) (1-1 singles, 4-1 doubles). 

Brandeis first year Haley Cohen (Cherry Hill, N.J.) and senior Carley Cooke (San Diego, Calif.) teamed up at number one doubles to down sophomore Theresa Reinhard (Canton, Ohio) (9-9 singles, 11-6 doubles) and junior Meg Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.) (15-4 singles, 9-7 doubles) from Simmons, 8-1.

First year Sarah Chung (Plano, Texas) gave the Judges a 3-1 lead after defeating Pierce at sixth singles without dropping a game, 6-0, 6-0. Vasser continued the trend for Brandeis with a 6-0, 6-0, decision over Downey at number three singles. Senior Simone Vandroff (Moss Beach, Calif.) secured the decisive point for the Judges after a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Cokely at second singles to end Cokely's seven-match singles win string and give the home team a 5-1 margin. 

Cohen registered a win at first singles for Brandeis, taking down Reinhard, 6-3, 6-0, while junior Sarita Biswas (Bedford, Mass.) defeated Simmons first year Han DK Le (Tra Vinh, Vietnam/Matignon HS (Mass.)) (13-5 singles, 12-0 doubles) at fifth singles, 6-2, 6-3. First year Charlotte Aaron (Phoenix, Ariz.) capped the day for the Judges with a 6-2, 6-4 win at number four singles over Khoury.

The Sharks will return to action on Saturday, April 18 when they return to Waltham, Mass. to take on Division II Bentley University at 10:00 a.m., while Brandeis hosts Endicott College at 3:00 p.m. on April 16.