Playing in its final tournament of the fall season, the men's tennis team proved to be a formidable opponent at the James Wallach Invitational at Bates College, coach Ben Lamanna's alma mater. The Judges reached the quarterfinals across all singles and doubles flights four times, the semifinals twice and the finals once. They also forced a total of four third-set tiebreakers in singles action, though the Judges never ended up on the winning end of these matches.In the flight A doubles bracket, the squad fielded two doubles teams: No. 2 seed Simon Miller '11 and Nick White '11 and Steven Milo '13 and Ezra Bernstein '13. Milo and Bernstein were ousted from the bracket early, losing their first-round match 8-5 to Colby College junior Tom Kimball and senior Michael Johnsen.

Miller and White advanced to the quarterfinals after a first-round bye and faced the duo of Colby junior Joe Albano and sophomore Matthew Mantikas, defeating them 8-4. In the semifinals, the duo faced Skidmore College senior Yahia Imam and junior Luke Granger and defeated the team 8-6. In their finals match, Miller and White were pitted against the first-seeded doubles team of Skidmore freshman Jimmy Sherpa and senior Spencer Cheng. Miller and White did not come out on top of this match, falling 8-4 to finish second in the bracket.

Miller said that he was very happy with the strong play but wishes he and White could have taken that last match.

"We played well overall and fought hard," Miller said. "In our first match [last Sunday], we played tough in the big moments, but in the finals, we just couldn't put it together on the big points."

Lamanna also praised their play and noted that it should bump them up in the Northeast rankings.

"[Miller] and [White] compliment each other very well on the court, and they fought really hard together," said Lamanna. "This performance should put them in the top six in the Northeast and put them in good shape for a run at Nationals in the spring."

The Judges only sent one team to play in the flight B doubles bracket: Josh Jordan '13 and Brandon Frank '14. The duo lost their opening round match.

In singles play, White and Miller both competed in the flight A singles bracket. Both players lost their opening round matches. White, though initially ahead one set, was defeated by Kimball 2-6, 6-4, 10-8. Miller once again faced Cheng, but was unable to take the rematch. Despite forcing a third-set tiebreaker, Cheng defeated Miller 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.

Milo and Bernstein competed for Brandeis in the flight B singles bracket. Bernstein, after forcing a third-set tiebreaker, lost his opening round match to Bates freshman Ben Bogard 6-1, 2-6, 10-7. Milo handled Albano in his first-round match 6-1, 6-3, but would lose in the quarterfinals, losing 6-2, 6-0 to Skidmore freshman Oliver Loutsenko, who would go on to win the bracket.

In the flight C singles bracket, Dave Yovanoff '13 required a third set tiebreaker in his opening round match, but would lose 7-6, 4-6, 10-8 to Colby freshman Jason Ottomano.

Jordan defeated Vassar sophomore Josh Kessier 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round and won 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Jordan was paired against Sherpa of Skidmore. Jordan came short, losing 7-5, 6-4 to Sherpa, who would go on to win the bracket.

Frank and Adam Brown '14 rounded out the action for Brandeis in the flight D singles bracket. Brown lost his first-round match to Colby freshman Matt Carroll 6-2, 6-2. Frank made it through to the quarterfinals after defeating Vassar sophomore Euma Matthew in the first round 6-1, 6-3. He would lose his next match to the eventual winner and No. 1 seed, Skidmore freshman Danny Knight after retiring in the first set.

The men's squad will not return to action until February break, when they, along with the women's squad, will travel to California for a series of dual matches. The women play their final tournament of the fall season on Oct. 15 in the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament Championships at Tufts University.

Miller says that he and the team are really excited for the trip and will practice hard until then.

"During the offseason, we are going to keep working on our mental toughness," said Miller. "We don't always play as well as we are able to when the pressure is on. This is going to change.