When Simon Miller '11 looked across the net in his semifinal match at the John Wallach Invitational Tournament Sunday, he saw a familiar opponent: Bowdoin College senior Garrett Gates. The end result also had an air of familiarity.Ten days after he defeated Miller 7-6, 6-4 during Bowdoin's 9-0 victory over the Judges Oct. 4, Gates defeated Miller 6-2, 6-2 Sunday, knocking him out of the tournament in his final match of the fall season. Still, coach Ben Lamanna was encouraged by Miller's performance.

"[Miller] and these guys are getting better each match," Lamanna said. "They're getting smarter and it continued over the weekend."

After receiving a first-round bye, Miller defeated Skidmore College freshman Carl-Eric Girardin in the second round and battled past Amherst College senior Jeff Wan in the quarterfinals. He couldn't get past Gates, however, who went on to win the bracket.

Captain Scott Schulman '09 had the best performance for the Judges, reaching the finals of the No. 3 singles bracket. Schulman's tournament was also ended by a Bowdoin player, falling to sophomore Tyler Anderson 7-5, 6-2.

Schulman's biggest test, however, came in the quarterfinals against Bates College sophomore Ryan Mannelly. Schulman lost the first set 6-1 and fell behind 0-3 in the second set, but battled back to get a 1-6, 6-4 (10-8) victory.

"When you play singles you're the only one out there, so when you're losing it can be demoralizing, and when you're getting beat it's just harder to come back," Schulman said. "It took a lot for me to be tough mentally in that [situation]."

In doubles, the only team to advance in either of the two brackets was the pairing of Miller and Steven Nieman '11. After winning their first-round match, they lost 8-4 in the quarterfinals to Middlebury College sophomores Andrew Lee and Chris Mason.

Prior to the tournament, Lamanna challenged the Judges' mental makeup during a private meeting. He said they were getting too down on themselves after losing points.

"Tennis players can get fired up and a little upset at themselves, so the more you can cut that out and be a little more relaxed, the more focused you'll be on the next point," Lamanna said.

After the tournament, Lamanna said he was mostly encouraged by the team's response.

"In a few instances we just stepped up our mental game and became a lot tighter. We matured and improved," he said.

Lamanna said prior to the women's team's match at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last Tuesday that doubles play would be crucial if Brandeis was going to win. He proved to be correct, but it gave him little consolation when the Judges lost all three doubles matches in a 6-3 defeat.

Brandeis' top two doubles teams each lost their matches 8-2, while the Judges' third pair of Mackenzie Gallegos '11 and Ariana Sanai '10 ultimately fell 9-7.

"The score doesn't really reflect how [the team] played," Gallegos said. "They didn't blow us away. We just got down and didn't come back."

The top of the Judges' singles lineup struggled as well. Rachel Rosman '11 fell to sophomore Leslie Henson 6-0, 7-5 at No. 1 singles, and freshman Liz Denys routed Colleen Donnelly '08 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.

"The momentum [MIT had] going into [our singles matches] was just too much," Lamanna said. "[Rosman] couldn't get anything going, and [Donnelly] just played too defensively."

The men's team's fall season is complete, while the women's team closes its fall season at the New England Championships in Amherst, Mass. next weekend.