This week, the men's and women's tennis teams made their spring season New England debut against third-ranked Middlebury College and University Athletic Association rival New York University. Both squads split, sweeping NYU and losing both to Middlebury. The men improved to 5-3 on the season, while the women proved they deserved to be nationally ranked at number 29 for the first time in school history. The men's match against NYU March 12 was nothing short of a blowout, with the squad running off to an easy 9-0 victory, their first against NYU in over three years. The Judges' sweep of the doubles matches was paced by an 8-0 victory at the number two spot by Steven Nieman '11 and Mike Tatarsky '12. Simon Miller '11 and Nick White '11 also took an 8-3 win at first doubles, while rookies Dave Yovanoff '13 and Fred Rozenshteyn '13 walked away with an 8-5 win at third doubles.

On the singles side, the team cruised through four of the six matches. White won 6-2, 6-0 at second singles. Yovanoff, at third singles, also handled his opponent, taking a 6-0, 6-3 win. Rozenshteyn had the most lopsided match of the day, dropping just a single match in his 6-0, 6-1 defeat of senior P.J. Marranca of NYU. At sixth singles, rookie Steven Milo '13 also walked away with a 6-1, 6-1 win.

The two close matches took place at first and fifth singles. Miller, who had already taken an easy win at first doubles, breezed by the first set, taking it six games to three. He had to work in the second set but still managed to notch a 7-5 win and clinch a first singles win. At fifth singles, Nieman had to fight back from behind after dropping the first set 7-6. After an easy 6-2 win in the second set, the match went to a supertiebreaker third set in which Nieman came away with a well-deserved 10-3 win, clinching the sweep of NYU with his defeat of junior Matt Gross.

"Beating NYU was really nice," said Miller during an interview. "We haven't beaten them since I've been here and it's always been close with them. We have a bunch of new guys, and we've been working hard off the court and doing a lot of working out and extra fitness. It was a sweet win."

Against Middlebury, the men's team did not fare as well, falling 8-1 to the strong No. 3 seeded opponent. While the team was swept in doubles and lost all but one singles match, it was in the sixth singles match in which the squad was able to take some pride.

Milo played, in the words of teammate Miller, "the best match I've ever seen." After dropping the first set 6-2, Milo rebounded with a 7-3 tiebreaker win in the second set. It was not until 1 a.m., with all of the members of both teams watching, that Milo could claim victory in the third set super-tiebreaker.

Not only was it the sole win of the day, but it was also the first point the men's squad had taken off Middlebury in the history of the team. "He's been one of our quickest learners this year," said coach Ben Lamanna. "He's just a terrific fighter and has a desire to get better. It was very high-level tennis and just a phenomenal performance."

Milo ended up scoring 19 winners, or points off serves, and saved six match points.

"[The loss to] Middlebury was a tough one," said Miller. "Those guys are always tough, and they came out firing. We just need to improve a little bit in fitness and mental preparedness, but Steven Milo really just stole the show at Middlebury."

On the women's side, the squad also split Sunday, falling to Middlebury 7-2 but claiming a hard-fought 5-3 victory over NYU. Against Middlebury, the team's two wins came off the racket of Rachel Rosman '11, who took a close second singles match and won the first doubles match along with partner and rookie Faith Broderick '13.

While the team lost the overall match, players take pride in the fact that they won their first two points off Middlebury ever. "It's the first time in the program's history that we've taken off one point from Middlebury, let alone two points," said assistant coach Payum Payman. "There are a lot of positive things we saw out there, and from what we've been working on, it's definitely encouraging to see them headed in the right direction."

The squad notched its first victory against NYU in a number of years. The women came out strong in doubles play, with the team of Rosman and Broderick taking the first doubles match, and the pairing of captain Ariana Sanai '10 and Nina Levine '12 winning a close one at third doubles.

In singles play, with Brandeis up 2-1, Broderick dropped a tight one at first singles, but Rosman kept pace with a close win at second singles. It was the back end of the lineup that picked up the slack for Brandeis. Levine played well in the fifth singles match, winning 6-1, 6-1. Sara Richman '12, who was filling in for captain Emily Weisberger '10, who went down with a knee injury against Middlebury, ended up winning the clinching match at sixth singles 6-4, 6-2 against her NYU opponent.

With regards to Weisberger's injury, the team is concerned, but it has no further information regarding its severity. "She had lost the first set in a tiebreaker against Middlebury," said Payman. "She ran for a shot and we're not sure what happened, but she came down hard on her knee." Lamanna and Payman did not comment on the extent of the injury and said only that Weisberger's condition would be analyzed in the coming week.

The men's team will next face Boston College on Wednesday, and then both squads will travel to Bates College for a dual match on Saturday.