Behind 9-8 in a deciding third-set super-tiebreaker in the championship match at last weekend's Eastern College Athletic Conference Open Tennis Championships at Trinity College, women's tennis player Rachel Rosman '11 was one point away from losing the match.Instead of folding, Rosman regrouped, hitting a passing shot against Bowdoin College's senior Sara D'Elia, who was at the net, to tie the score before winning the next two points to earn the gold medal in the Flight A singles bracket.

"I was really excited. It was really close the whole way through, so it really just came down to a couple of points, so that was probably one of . my proudest wins," Rosman said.

Rosman's victory led Brandeis to a second-place finish out of seven teams at the two-day tournament, the squad's first tournament of the season. The Judges earned 13.5 points to finish behind Bowdoin, which captured the tournament with 19 points.

After defeating her first two opponents in straight sets last Saturday, Rosman split the first two sets against D'Elia, winning the first 6-4 before losing the second 6-1, to set up the tiebreaker.

"[D'Elia's] a very good player . . She's very consistent," Rosman said. "She made me play every ball, she made very few errors, so it was a very, very close match the whole way through."

Assistant coach Ethan Branum said that the victory helps demonstrate Rosman's progression.

"We now know that she has what it takes to not just compete with some of the top players in the country, but to actually [beat] them," he said.

Three other Judges faced Bowdoin players in the finals but fell in straight sets. Sarah Richman '12 lost to Bowdoin's Brett Davis 6-2, 6-0 after defeating Connecticut College's sophomore Andrea Soriano 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in her collegiate debut.

"[The first match] was a really close match," Richman said. "We went back and forth the whole time."

In their first match as a doubles team, Ria Chadha '11 and Davida Judelson '12 reached the finals before losing to Bowdoin seniors Charlotte Hitch and Rachel Waldman 6-0, 6-0.

"They had a terrific semifinal win over [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]," Branum said. "In the final, they ran into a very, very experienced Bowdoin team, and I'm sure that our girls will take a lot of positives away from this and [know] what they need to do to improve and get to that next level."

Nina Levine '12 lost in the consolation finals 8-6 to Connecticut College sophomore Caroline Barone, while Mackenzie Gallegos '11 lost in the first round before defeating RPI junior Christine Roe 6-4, 6-4 in the back draw.

The men's team also played in its season-opening tournament last weekend, traveling to Bowdoin College for the two-day Polar Bear Invitational.

Michael Tatarsky '12 took the only Brandeis victory of Day One with a 6-4, 2-6, 12-10 win over Colby senior Nick Rosen-Wachs on Saturday.

"I think Tatarsky's going to be a freshman to watch," Steven Nieman '11 said. "I think he's a really big asset to our team."

Tatarsky teamed up with Nieman to finish 1-1 in doubles Sunday.

Coach Ben Lamanna said the purpose of the tournament was to get the players some valuable experience against competitive teams like Bowdoin and Colby College.

"It was just good to get [the] guys some experience," he said. "I think they all played hard. They worked hard out there."

In their first dual matches of the season, the men's team travels to Bentley College today at 3 p.m., while the women's team hosts Bentley tomorrow at 3 p.m.