After having lost her doubles match last Sunday against New York University, Colleen Donnelly '08 refused to relinquish the final home singles match of her college career. "After doubles I was pretty disappointed, so I was definitely much more fired up and determined to win my singles match," she said. "I did not want to go out with losing both my singles and my doubles."

Just as she did in her first college appearance over three and a half years ago, Donnelly won her singles match in straight sets, defeating junior Stephanie Tu 6-1, 6-3.

"[It felt] really good, and it was also really sad at the same time," she said. "I actually cried right after, just [because] I was really happy that I won, but at the same time, I was pretty sad to be leaving."

Donnelly's career began with an appearance in the NCAA Division III doubles tournament during her rookie season. Since then, she has occupied one of the top two spots in the Brandeis singles lineup in every match she's played.

Donnelly has been playing tennis since she was seven and played on her high school's varsity squad. She contrasted her Brandeis experience with her high school playing days.

"[Brandeis is] definitely more team-oriented, which I really liked, because even in high school the rest of the team didn't play as competitively as I did," Donnelly said. "This year, we all work together and support each other really well and all want the same things."

It was this sense of closeness that brought Donnelly to Brandeis in the first place.

"I had stayed overnight with a couple of teams who I didn't really like, but when I stayed over with Brandeis, it's definitely the people on the team which made me want to come here," she said. "I think it sort of speaks to the way we've always had a [very] close team, and we've had a really good time together.