The men's tennis team picked up their first win of the season Sunday against Hamilton College 6-1. Despite being without singles players Ariel Burman '08 and Cliff Silverman '07, the team had victories from all of their singles spots with the exception of Jamie Metrick '07 who lost at the third singles spot.The Judges also found success in their doubles matches, with Jordan Beiber '07 and Hart Comess-Daniels '06 suffering the only doubles loss.

"It was the first match that we played together," Bieber said. "We still have to figure out the chemistry, and who's going to fit with who. We almost played to our full potential, but we definitely have room for improvement."

"We have a lot of depth on the team, so we'll be fine," captain Seth Green '05 said. "I have confidence in the depth of our line-up. I think we really have a lot of potential to do well."

Before taking on Hamilton College, the Judges lost 6-1 in their season opener against No. 1 Middleburry College on Saturday. Adam Sher '07 had the team's only victory of the match.

Silverman was forced to miss the match due to an injury he suffered in the team's Saturday loss to Middlebury. He forfeited the very tightly contested match with an ankle injury in the fourth set.

His absence in Sunday's game brought Captain Seth Green '05 into the line-up at the fifth spot and raised Jordan Beiber '07 from the fifth to the fourth spot.

Despite the loss, the team's top-seeded player, Sam Jonas '07 said that the team started the season strong.

"We're a bit depleted now," Jonas said. "We have very good players, but if they're forced to play [in higher spots] it makes a big difference. We should be fine."

Ariel Burman '08 missed both matches because of an unknown illness. As a member of the Judges team, Burman has yet to finish a team match. He was expected to contribute in the top half of the singles bracket, but still has not suited up for a match.

In January, Rocky Best-Jarvis resigned as head coach for both the men's and women's teams. Best-Jarvis coached the men's team to a 77-62 record from 1996 to 2004, and the women's team to a 14-12 mark from 2003 to 2004.

Best-Jarvis' resignation revealed resent and disappointment from some of the younger members of the team over Best-Jarvis' coaching and behavior, while older players were sad and disappointed to see him leave.

"Different people had different perspectives on [Best-Jarvis]," Green said. "But as a team we were always united. I guess the team is more united now in their opinions on the coach, but as a team we've always been friends and we've always been united."

Matt Porter has replaced Best-Jarvis as interim head coach. Porter is a former volunteer assistant for the Judges and was also a three-time All-American from 1999-2001. He achieved a No. 1 national ranking in Division II in 2001 while leading his team to a national championship.

"[Porter] makes us work a lot harder," Jonas said. "He runs a lot better practices, and he's just an overall better guy to talk to. He's been very supportive of us."

"He is very helpful, and he cares about the team and us," Bieber said. "At the end of our first match we were really tired and he took us to a gas station and bought us all Gatorade.