When the Brandeis women's tennis team was informed of Connecticut College's victory over NESCAC rival Trinity College, a respected and highly-ranked Division III team, the Judges knew they would face a solid opponent when Connecticut College visited Brandeis on Sunday. The Judges, led by first-year Coach Rocky Jarvis, launched their 2003 season with a tightly-contested victory over the visiting Camels. Although Brandeis came away with a narrow 5-4 victory, the match was a good indicator of the strong competition they will face this season.

The Judges' top player, first singles performer Jane Chae '05, discussed why Brandeis can't underestimate any opponent. "They're certainly not as tough as some of the highly ranked national teams such as Emory, Amherst and Williams," she said, "but they're a team you cannot take for granted because they have the ability to scare some teams."

Against Connecticut College, the Judges dropped two of three doubles matches, putting themselves in an early 0-1 hole. "It was surprising, but we had been in this position many times last year, so we knew that we had to step up in the singles play," Chae commented.

Brandeis had its hands full early on, as Chae dropped the first set of her match 2-6, and second-singles player Abby Lerner '05 went down 6-7. Unfazed, the girls quickly recovered and swept the top four singles matches with wins by Chae, Lerner, Jennifer Kreuger '07 (6-1, 6-4), and Ora Wexler '04 (2-6, 6-1, 6-0).

With the score knotted at 4-4, the pressure fell on Lerner. After dropping the first set, Lerner escaped with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Connecticut College's Beret Remark.

Chae talked about her teammate's early struggles. "Some of Abby's greatest performances in the past were under pressure," she said. "I wasn't worried, I knew she was capable of fighting hard until the end."

Wexler, who also bounced back from a one-set deficit, has earned the respect of her young teammates. "If she had not won this match, the team would not have won the competition," Krueger remarked. "Ora, Abby and Jane's comeback's showed us the importance of each and every match."

Krueger, a first-year from Memphis, gutted out an impressive straight sets victory in a pressure-packed atmosphere. Though still green coming from the world of junior tennis, Krueger seems to be adjusting rather quickly to life at the NCAA level.

Jarvis was forced to shuffle his singles lineup due to nagging back injury suffered by Shani Reich '06.

"Connecticut College had already played two matches, so they were definitely ready for us," veteran fifth-singles player Katie Albert '04 said. "Since this was our first match of the season, it took a while for us to get into that competing mentality."

" The fact that it was so tough and we still pulled off a win is really going to help us carry some major momentum into the rest of the season," she continued.

Chae called the Connecticut College triumph a "result of everyone's attitudes, determination and willingness to see that the women's tennis team be recognized as one of the elite teams in the nation.