Even though the men's tennis team lacked strength in numbers this weekend at the season-ending James Wallach Invitational, it managed to flex its muscles in other ways. With only five out of 13 team members in attendance at the invitational, which took place at Bates College Friday through Sunday, the Judges captured one singles win and three doubles victories, the most notable being Scott Schulman's '09 and Atul Soni's '10 first and second round victories, before the pair fell in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the women's team lost its season-ending match last Tuesday at home 7-2 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"This tournament was a good showing of the team's talent," men's and women's coach Ben Lamanna said.

"It was a good chance to get a chnace develop."

Two notable absences for the Judges were captain Sam Jonas '07, sidelined from a groin injury, and Alex Neystat '10, who was sick with a chronic cold.

"It was a pretty good tournament for us as a team, especially since most of our squad was either injured or sick," Schulman said.

Schulman was the only Brandeis player to pick up a singles victory, beating out Colby College senior captain Tom Gildersleeve, who was one of last year's four singles champions, 3-6, 7-5 (12-10).

In the second round of the invitational, Schulman lost to Bowdoin College sophomore Alex White, 6-1, 6-1.

All four of the team's other singles participants, including Jordan Bieber '07, Sher, Adam Ciminello '10 and Soni, lost in straight sets in the first round of the tournament.

"There is just not enough confidence for us in singles," Lamanna said.

In doubles play, the Judges' most successful pair was Schulman and Soni.

The tandem started off running, beating the University of Southern Maine senior Justin Chaffee and sophomore Derek Stevenson 8-2.

In a second-round thriller, the duo topped Vassar College's fourth-seeded doubles team of sophomore Jeremy Rosen and freshman Robert Babbage 8-5.

In the semifinals, Schulman and Soni were finally defeated by the first-seeded pair from host Bates College, sophomore Michael Sherman and freshman Adam Nielson, 8-5.

"Both guys really stepped up this weekend and played aggressively," Lamanna said.

"This was a great opportunity for them; they saw that, and they took the most out of it."

Soni, who got a chance to play in his first official college match due to his teammates' numerous injuries, said he and Shulman relied on a cautious strategy.

"What worked for us was making sure we played solidly and not trying to go for too many big shots," he said.

Soni called his first significant match on the Judges "a rush."

"This was my first big-time match, so I was just happy playing. Getting so far was an added bonus," he said.

Sher and Bieber, the second doubles pair, were less successful at the match.

In their first-round match, they defeated Tufts' seniors Cory Keller and Geoff Loh 8-5, but lost their next match to Middlebury's fourth-seeded team of freshmen Andrew Lee and Eliot Jia 8-4.

"[Ciminello and Bieber] were just moving really, really well against Tufts and they beat a really excellent team," Lamanna said.

Looking ahead to the offseason, Lamanna emphasized that conditioning, including better wight training and practices, will be key to the men's team's improvement.