The men's and women's tennis teams traveled to Maine and faced Bates College, coach Ben Lamanna's alma mater, on Saturday. The women walked away with a 5-4 win, improving their record to 5-5, while the men lost a close 6-3, giving them a record of 5-5.The Judges, ranked No. 29 nationally, managed to take an early lead against Bates in doubles play, winning both first and third doubles. The team of Faith Broderick '13 and Rachel Rosman '11 edged out the Bates team 8-6.

At third doubles, co-captain Ariana Sanai '10 and Nina Levine '12 took the match 8-3. Bates was able to take a close second doubles victory, winning 8-6 over the team of Mackenzie Gallegos '11 and Sarah Richman '12.

In singles play with the Judges leading 2-1, both teams earned three points, securing the win for Brandeis.

At first singles, Broderick faced senior Alex Piacquad, with Broderick taking the first set 6-3 and falling 6-7 in the second set. With a tie score, the match went to a third-set super-tiebreaker, in which Piacquad defeated Broderick 10-5 for the match.

At fifth and sixth singles, Bates was victorious, defeating Levine 6-7, 7-2, 6-2 in the fifth spot and defeating Richman 6-3, 6-4 in the sixth spot. However, the Judges were able sweep second, third and fourth singles, with Rosman, Sanai and Gallegos earning easy victories and clinching the match for Brandeis.

"Our women's team is showing a lot of heart and competitiveness," said Lamanna. "They are really going to fight to the bitter end, and it all comes from leadership, from upperclassmen who step up [and] call people out when they need to and get the job done."

Despite the win, the Judges learned that co-captain Emily Weisberger '10, who had injured herself playing against Middlebury College, had torn her ACL and MCL, thus ending her season and her tennis career at Brandeis.

"She is a fantastic athlete who always brings a level of experience and consistency to the court," said Lamana.

On Saturday, the men also faced Bates, whose men's squad is ranked No. 30 nationally and No. 7 in the Northeast. The Judges, ranked No. 14 in the Northeast, lost to Bates 6-3.

In doubles play, the first doubles team of Simon Miller '11 and Nick White '11 won 8-5. At second doubles, the team of Steven Milo '13 and Dave Yovanoff '13 were heading toward a second Brandeis victory, leading senior Max Berger and sophomore Jeffrey Beaton of Bates 6-1. However, Bates fought back to tie the match at eight games apiece. Beaton and Berger eventually completed their comeback to win the match 9-8.

"[Milo and Yovanoff] came out fired up, playing aggressive tennis," said Lamanna. "We would overpower them on most points and force them to back up, but there was a little momentum, and ultimately they couldn't finish the match."

With the team of Steve Nieman '11 and Michael Tatarsky '12 falling at third doubles, the Judges were down 2-1 after doubles play.

In singles play, the Judges back end of the Judges' lineup was able to earn the squad victory points, with Nieman beating his opponent in a third set super-tiebreaker 10-6 at fifth singles, and Milo easily winning 6-2, 6-1 in the sixth singles spot. However, Bates was able to take the other four singles spots, defeating White, Miller, Yovanoff and Fred Rozenshteyn '13 at first through fourth singles, respectively.

The men began the week with a 7-0 loss to strong Divison I opponent Boston College on Wednesday. The Judges' lone win came from rookies Milo and Yovanoff at the second doubles spot in an 8-5 victory over junior Adam Davidson and senior Brian Garber.

The score of the match does not reflect this win, because according to Division I rules, all three doubles matches count as one point combined.

"[Milo and Yovanoff] came out relaxed and fired up, and when they reached the point of the momentum switch, the moment of truth, they were able to finish it," Lamanna said.

White and Rozenshteyn both fell 1-6, 0-6 at first and fourth singles respectively. Milo, who played sixth singles, won three games in each set before falling to Davidson.

Simon Miller '11 and Yovanoff both managed to win two games each off their Boston College opponents at the second and third singles slots, respectively.

At fifth singles. Nieman, who lost the first set 1-6, brought the second set to a 6-6 tie before narrowly being defeated 6-7.

The men's team will play Amherst College at Babson College on Saturday, and both squads will then face University of Rochester at home on Sunday. The men start at 11 a.m. and the women begin at 3 p.m.