Last Tuesday, the men's tennis team played its final match of the 2010-2011 campaign at home against the Tufts Jumbos. Despite Senior Day festivities, the Judges were not able to overcome the stifling rackets of the Jumbos and fell 6-3. The Judges end the season with a 10-11 record. As of April 19, they were No. 22 in the country.The Judges were forced to play without top player Simon Miller '11. Coach Ben Lamanna reported that Miller partially tore his posterior cruciate ligament in the match against Trinity College on April 10. Without the co-captain leading the way, the Judges were unable to win a pair of close games in singles play and maintain leads they had established in first and second doubles.

In singles action, Nick White '11 fell behind in first singles but managed to recover and earn the win in three sets with scores of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Dave Yovanoff '13 fell in three sets at second singles, as did Steven Nieman '11, both of whom lost the second and third sets after taking the first. Ezra Bernstein '11 lost in two sets at third singles 6-3, 6-1. Josh Jordan '13 and Adam Brown '14 recorded the only other two wins for the Judges. Jordan took a three-set win at fourth singles, while Brown's opponent retired in the second set.

In doubles play, the Judges had trouble closing out matches. Despite Brandeis holding leads in first and second doubles, the Jumbos were able to sweep all three matches. At first doubles, Yovanoff and Bernstein held an early lead, but their opponents managed to take the game to an 8-8 tie and won the game in the tiebreaker. White and Nieman also held a lead in the second doubles match but were defeated 8-6. Jordan and Michael Defeo '14 fell at the third slot 8-4.

"Anytime you get swept at doubles, it is not good," said Lamanna. "We were up on number 1 and number 2, but we couldn't close them out."

Aside from the loss, Senior Day marked the final matches for five seniors who have been invaluable to the Judges for the past 4 years. Lamanna said that saying goodbye to these five athletes will be difficult.

"The five seniors took the program a long way. These guys have been amazing and helped to change the culture of the program."

Bernstein, who transferred in his junior year, ends his career with a solid 51.5-percent record at doubles and showed a large increase in playing time his senior year.

Mayur Kassetty '11, though he hasn't played as much as the other seniors in recent years, went 3-5 this past season.

Although not as successful this year, Nieman, who started all 4 years at Brandeis, finished with a 50-percent record in singles play.

Miller, perhaps the strongest of the seniors, has been a starter all 4 years and has recorded over 100 wins in his career. He will finish with 50-percent winning records in both singles and doubles. "I feel sad to be leaving the team, especially since these last 2 years have been the best 2 years the team has had since 1989," said Miller. "But I feel like all the graduating seniors believe that we are leaving the team in a better position then when we came onto it, so there really is not much to be sad about."

White, who also transferred his junior year, was a starter both years on the team and recorded a solid 50-percent winning percentage in singles play. "I feel very grateful and proud that I got to play for Brandeis for these last 2 years," said White. "My Senior Day gave me an opportunity to look back on my college career and appreciate my journey."

Lamanna knows next year will be a difficult year without these seniors, who helped secure the Judges' first national ranking since 1989. "We'll have no seniors next season," said Lamanna. "We are a senior-heavy team, so we are going to have to have some guys some step up. We will sort of have to start over and bring the team together quickly.