Five women's tennis players represented the Judges at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional tournament last weekend at Bowdoin College, but only two came away with wins. Colleen Donnelly '08 led Brandeis by advancing to the third round of singles play before falling to Bowdoin sophomore Kristen Raymond in back-to-back sets. Jen Krueger '07 needed a third-set-super-tiebreaker to capture her first-round win before dropping her second-round match in straight sets.

Shani Reich '06 lost her first-round singles match, while the Judges' doubles team of Krueger/Donnelly advanced to the second round and Christine Clancy '06/Gabrielle Helfgott '09 exited in the first round.

"The weekend went really well," coach Ben Lamanna said. "There was great competition and it was great for the women to see the level of the top teams in the nation."

Donnelly capitalized on her opponent's lack of experience in her opening match Friday, shutting out Mitchell College's Rachel Cyr in two 6-0 sets to advance to the second round.

"I was able to hold my game rather than playing down to her level," said Donnelly.

Three hours after the start of her first match, Donnelly finished off No. 5 seeded Vassar junior Debbie Sharnak 6-4, 6-2 to move on to the third round (only eight singles players out of 64 received seeds).

Krueger also posted a win in her first-round singles match, taking her first set against Williams senior Kathryn Robinette 6-1 before dropping the second 6-2. Krueger won the third-set-super-tiebreaker 10-2 before falling to Williams College rookie Cary Gibson in straight sets.

Gibson advanced all the way to the semifinals of the tournament before falling to eventual champion Amy Roche, a junior from Middlebury College.

When Krueger and Donnelly began their opening-round doubles match, Kruger's discontent with her singles performance in the second round was obvious to Donnelly. The team started slowly, but took the match eight games to four.

"The turning point of the match was when [Krueger] actually got hit by the ball," Donnelly said. "She was still a little bummed about her singles match. She wasn't into her doubles yet, but that woke her up."

Donnelly and Krueger then took on Bowdoin's No. 1 doubles team in a tight back-and-forth match that ended in an 8-6 victory for the Polar Bears.

"[The second-round doubles match] was our first real test playing together," Donnelly said. "It was a good thing we played well for future matches."

Captain Shani Reich '06 had a tough time in her first-round singles match against Bowdoin rookie Sarah D'Elia, losing 6-2, 6-0. Reich said she felt unprepared for the match, but that she will use the tournament as motivation for improving the mental aspects of her game.

"The beginning was pretty close, but then I hit a double fault here and hit it wide there-that costs you games," Reich said.

Brandeis hosts Trinity College Saturday at 11 a.m. The Judges have lost to the Bantams 5-4 the past two seasons.

"It always comes down to one match," Reich said. "Hopefully this year it will go our way.