While other conference teams played at Brandeis throughout the weekend, the women's tennis team was quickly dispatched from its home court, losing to No. 3 Carnegie Mellon University 6-3 in the first round of the UAA championships Friday at Brandeis. The Judges rebounded to win both of their consolation games at Wellesley College, toppling Case Western Reserve University 8-1 Saturday and New York University 7-2 Sunday. The Judges earned fifth place in the UAA championships and finished the year 9-7."I'm happy with the results because we definitely made the most of the tournament after having a tough first day," captain Abby Lerner '05 said.

Brandeis dominated its two consolation matches, losing only a combined two single matches and one doubles match. Lerner, Jen Krueger '07 and Colleen Donnelly '08 each won in back-to-back sets and the first three singles spots on Sunday before Ana Katz '08 needed a third set tiebreaker to beat Yellowjackets senior Megan Hayes at the No. 4 singles spot. Lerner and Donnelly shut out Hayes and rookie Meggie Smith 8-0 in the No. 1 doubles spot, while Christine Clancy '06 and Jennicka Hornung '07 took the No. 3 match 8-3 to secure the doubles point.

The Judges were even more dominant in their first consolation game win over the Tartans Saturday. Case Western Reserve junior Lauren Grey was the only Tartan to win a match, taking out Sarah Zonenshine '06 in back-to-back sets. Zonenshine was winless in two singles appearances in the tournament. Krueger and Lerner were stellar, losing only a combined three games.

"It was hard coming in [after] losing on Friday," Krueger said. "But the team was able to stick together and stay pumped up. Everybody played really well."

The Judges' opening match of the tournament left them on the outside of the championship bracket looking in. No. 3-seeded Carnegie Mellon beat the Judges 6-3, although Brandeis threatened to take the doubles point with the match no longer in contention. Krueger and Katz suffered a narrow 9-7 loss at the No. 2 spot while Clancy and Hornung lost 8-5 at the No. 3 spot. Krueger led the effort against the favored Spartans, beating Carnegie Mellon junior Alison Liu in a 10-8 fourth tiebreaker set at the No. 3 singles spot.

"Nothing really went wrong," Lerner said. "I thought the team played very well and we just ran into a tough team."

Lerner is the only player the Judges will lose to graduation, and players said they hope that more experience will translate into better results.

"Hopefully with more experience we can improve and do better next year," Donnelly said.