Rachel Rosman '11 and Colleen Donnelly '08, the women's tennis team's top doubles duo, may have benefited from a lucky break in order to even advance past the first stage of the Middlebury College doubles tournament last weekend, but they still performed admirably considering the circumstances. Despite suffering a loss in round-robin play, Rosman and Donnelly advanced to the semifinal round after the doubles team which would have made it to that round withdrew from the tournament. In Sunday's semifinals, Rosman and Donnelly fell to Middlebury's pair of sophomore Jamie Haar and senior Claire Smyser before defeating another Middlebury team in the consolation match to finish in third place.

"This doubles tournament was crucial for us," coach Ben Lamanna said. "You always have to focus on doubles because they're such a huge part of the match."

The men's team's top three singles players-Simon Miller '11, Steven Nieman '11 and Scott Schulman '09-competed in the International Tennis Association New England Regional Championships at Williams College Friday and Saturday. Miller and Nieman each reached the second round of the tournament before bowing out, while Schulman lost in the first round.

On the women's side, Rosman and Donnelly finished in a three-way tie atop their pool, but it appeared that their tournament would end there, as they lost the tiebreaker to the duo of Sally Hughes and Michelle Cannon. But after Hughes and Cannon withdrew from the tournament, Rosman and Donnelly advanced to the semifinals. In that round, they were soundly defeated 6-1, 6-3 by Haar and Smyser, the eventual winners of the tournament. Rosman said the match was closer than the score indicated.

"The semifinal match was a really good match," she said. "We did all the things we wanted to. It really just came down to a few really tough points."

The pair rebounded in the consolation match, however, easily defeating Middlebury sophomore Annie Weinberg and Emily Holick, clinching a third-place finish.

"Our games are really well suited for doubles," Rosman said. "[Donnelly and I] know what each other needs to do to close out the points."

Three other Brandeis pairs competed in the tournament, but none advanced beyond round-robin play. Ana Katz '08 and Gabrielle Helfgott '09 finished 2-1 in their group, but an opening 6-2, 6-1 loss to Smyser and Haar knocked them out of contention. Ariana Sanai '10 and Mackenzie Gallegos '11 finished 1-2 in group play, while the fourth pair of Emily Weisberger '10 and assistant coach Alexis Accomando lost all three of its group matches.

At the ITA singles tournament, Miller and Nieman each lost in the second round to players seeded in the top five of the tournament.

Lamanna said he was most impressed with Nieman's performance in singles. He easily defeated Coast Guard Academy junior Ryan Beck 6-2, 6-2 in the first round before bowing out to fourth-seeded Bates College sophomore Benjamin Stein in a tight 6-4, 6-4 match.

"[Nieman] always battles hard, and he battled well," Lamanna said. "He's a great competitor, but it just wasn't enough against a good player."

Miller defeated Springfield College rookie Trevor Romanzi 6-1, 6-4 in the first round, but fell to Williams College senior Dan Greenberg-the eventual champion-6-4, 6-3 in the second round.

"I wasn't as mentally tough as I could've been," Miller said, "I needed to really focus and be at my best to beat him but I wasn't."

Schulman's tournament ended early, as he lost to Middlebury rookie Jason Peters 6-1, 6-2. Peters also helped end the hopes of Miller and Nieman in the second round of the doubles tournament, combining with sophomore Eliot Jia for an 8-6 victory.

The men's team returns to action on the road Thursday against Bowdoin College at 3:30 p.m., in what Lamanna called its biggest match of the fall so far.

The women's team hosts Trinity College (Ct.) Saturday at 11 a.m.