Just 19 days after a road trip to Orlando, Fla. that saw the men's and women's tennis teams go a combined 7-3, the competition back in the Northeast did not prove to be as sunny. The two squads combined for a 1-4 record last weekend at Middlebury College. The men's team lost 6-3 to Connecticut College last Sunday and fell to No. 4 Middlebury 9-0 and University Athletic Association rival New York University 6-3 last Saturday, while the women defeated NYU 7-2 but lost to No. 13 Middlebury 9-0 last Saturday.

The men's team is now 5-5 this season, while the women's squad is 7-3.

In its match against Connecticut College, the men's team won three of the six singles matches. Steven Nieman '11 was able to knock off senior David Kellogg in No. 1 singles 7-5, 7-6 (4), Simon Miller '11 defeated rookie Jeffrey Weisberger 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, and Seth Rogers '10 beat rookie Colin Tasi 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. But the Judges dropped all three doubles matches, putting them in a 3-0 hole from which they could not recover. It was the third consecutive match in which the Judges lost all three games in doubles, as they also were swept in doubles by Middlebury and NYU.

"We're not playing big in doubles. That's the bottom line," coach Ben Lamanna said. He added: "In the nine-point system, if you don't win a doubles match . it's a real, real long ways to go to get back, and we're not quite dominant enough in singles that we can go out there and win five out of six singles matches to clinch a match."

Against the Camels, Miller and Scott Schulman '09 paired at No. 1 doubles and fell in a close decision to Kellogg and sophomore Trevor Prophet, 8-6. Neiman and Mayur Kasetty '11 teamed at No. 2 doubles, while Rogers and Josh Bookman '12 were at No. 3 doubles, both of which lost their matches by a score of 8-3.

"It's always hard coming off three tough losses, but we can't dwell on those," Nieman said. "We have to learn from our mistakes, which is we need to come out to a better start. The great thing about this game is that there are many more matches to come."

The women's team was able to knock off NYU 7-2 last Saturday, led by wins from their No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams. Rachel Rosman '11 and Mackenzie Gallegos defeated freshman Elizabeth Stachtiaris and senior captain Stephanie Tu 8-3, while captain Gabrielle Helfgott '09 and Nina Levine '12 defeated sophomore Sara Joo and senior Jennifer Gottlieb 8-4.

Gallegos had switched with Helfgott as Rosman's partner for the match, but Lamanna said Gallegos would continue to play No. 1 doubles "for the foreseeable future."

The Judges won five of their six singles matches, as No. 1 Rosman (6-1, 6-2), No. 2 Helfgott (3-6, 6-1, (10-3)), No. 4 Gallegos (6-1, 6-1), No. 5 Emily Weisberger '10 (6-2, 6-1), and No.6 Levine (8-3) all emerged victorious in their matches. Levine played only one superset because the team match had already been decided.

"We're a good singles team," Lamanna said. "It really all depends on our doubles and how confident we are."

In the 9-0 loss to Middlebury, No. 2 Helfgott, No. 4 Gallegos and No. 5 Weisberger were the only three Brandeis players to take their singles matches into a third set. Gallegos and Weisberger both lost the first set 6-0, and both rebounded to win the second set 7-5, but Gallegos dropped the third set tiebreak 11-9, and Weisberger fell in hers, 10-5, falling to senior Elizabeth Stone and rookie Alyssa Puccinelli, respectively. Helfgott was the only one of the three to play out the entire third set but lost(4-6, 6-2, 6-2) to senior Chandra Kurien.

The men's team will next compete this Saturday at home against Lamanna's alma mater Bates College at 10 a.m. The women's team will also take on Bates at home at 4 p.m.