With her first-set victory a distant memory, Colleen Donnelly '08 faced a match point trailing 5-3 in the third set of her No. 2 singles match against Tufts University sophomore Meghan McCooey. McCooey's shot skipped off the net tape and bounced twice onto Donnelly's side, clinching McCooey's comeback.Donnelly's 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 defeat broke a 2-2 tie in the women's tennis team's 5-2 loss to No. 12 Tufts last Saturday, which put the Judges at 8-5 on the season, including a 9-0 sweep of Roger Williams University last Thursday.

"I was very aggressive in the first set and then she started returning more of my balls, and was serving better," Donnelly said. "I was just getting frustrated, and then in the third set I just made a couple too many errors."

The men's team lost at home to No. 23 Trinity College 7-1 last Saturday and at No. 14 Amherst College 8-1 last Sunday, dropping its record to 6-7 this spring.

Donnelly wasn't the only women's tennis player to fall after winning the first set.

At No. 3 singles, Gabrielle Helfgott '09 took the first set against Tufts sophomore Erica Miller 2-6, but then let the next two slip away, eventually losing 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Those two loses came when the Judges and Jumbos were tied at two after Donnelly and Rachel Rosman'11 defeated the pairing of senior Andrea Cenko and junior Mari Homma 8-3 at No. 1 doubles and Rosman won at No. 1 singles against rookie Julia Browne 6-4, 6-3.

"That was a crucial point in the match," coach Ben Lamanna said. "They're almost ready to overcome in a real big match and they're getting close. It's never good to get beat on your own courts but the women are due for a big win. They're going to get it."

On the men's side, No. 1 singles player Simon Miller missed both matches this week after injuring his ankle against the University of Rochester March 29, but hopes to return in time for Saturday's home match against New York University.

Alex Neystat '10 is out for the year with a knee injury, while David Silver '11 also missed the match against Amherst. In their last three matches, all defeats, the Judges have used three different starting lineups.

"Everyone seems to be dinged up whether it's resting this or icing that but I guess it's just that time of year," Lamanna said. "Guys like Seth [Rogers '10], Mayur [Kasetty '11], and Dor [Almog '11] are all getting better and are going to be great players. They're young though and are not going to win against an Amherst right now."

Steven Nieman '11, normally the No. 2 singles player, picked up the Judges' only victory in the loss to Amherst, defeating fellow rookie and New York native Sean Doerfler 7-5, 6-1, but aside from Neiman's victory, the Judges were unable to pick up a set in the five remaining singles matches and combined to only take five games among their three doubles matches.

Even with the injuries, Lamanna was disappointed with the Judges' effort the day before at home against Trinity.

The loss was Brandeis' first on its home indoor courts since a 4-3 defeat against Bentley College in the fall of 2005.

"These are our courts, we haven't lost here on the men's side in three years. We expected to win." Lamanna said. "This is a team that's not ready to win right now. It's they're own fault and they know that."

The Judges only victory came at No. 1 doubles, where Nieman and Scott Schulman '09 defeated Bantam juniors David Yahng and Gautam Samarth 8-4.

Nieman came closest to adding another victory in his first match at No. 1 singles this season, but fell just short in a third set tiebreaker against Trinity sophomore Spencer Feldman.

Nieman fought off five match points on his serve when he was trailing 5-4, winning the game on a backhand winner after five deuces, but in the tiebreaker, Feldman won four of the five points off of Nieman's serve and eventually won the match 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(1).

"That would've been a huge win for me," Nieman said. "He played real well in big points but I know it was a big step for me. For the most part I'm happy with the way I played."

Both the men's and women's team will face New York University at home this weekend, with the men playing Saturday at 11 a.m. and the women Sunday at the same time. The men's team defeated the Violets to earn fifth place in the UAA last year.

The women will first play Wellesley College at home Thursday at 3:30 p.m.