Newly-hired tennis coach Ben Lamanna has a tough first year ahead of him. The Bates College graduate will enter his first head-coaching job with a roster drastically depleted by injuries and players traveling abroad. The team will be without UAA-MVP Sam Jonas '07 for most-if not all-of the season after he suffered a torn labrum (a shoulder ligament) in the team's last match of the season on April 19 against Bowdoin College."I was serving, and I just felt my shoulder pop," he said.

Jonas isn't the only player from last year's roster who will be missing when Lamanna gets to Brandeis. Jamie Metrick '07 is also injured, but is spending the year in London anyway. Jordan Bieber '07 and Cliff Silverman '07 are spending the semester in Spain, and Ariel Burman '08 transferred to Florida State University. Burman occupied the No. 2 singles spot for much of last season, while Jonas played both No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles with partner Mike Vulfovich '07.

It will fall on Vulfovich first to carry the load left by the absences, as he will now move to the No. 1 singles spot. Vulfovich acknowledged the challenges facing his team this season, which currently has just five players.

"It's going to be tough," Vulfovich said. "Until we get our team back together, I don't see us making any kind of run."

Lamanna, whose hiring was announced in a July 26 press release, told the Justice that he knew little about the players he would be missing, but said that he was excited for his first head-coaching job.

"It's great," Lamanna said. "Brandeis is the perfect place for me to be. It's a team that can improve a whole lot, there's an athletic department that's behind me 100 percent and there's aweome facilities. I'm psyched to start working with the kids."

According to the University's press release, Lamanna graduated from Bates in 2002, where he went 15-1 as a junior and helped the Bobcats to three NCAA tournament appearances during his career. He spent the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach for the 11-5 Bobcats. The Barrington, R.I., native spent this summer as tennis pro at Farm Neck in Martha's Vineyard.

"He's a very strong technical coach and player who knows the game very well," Sousa said. "I think he's going to immediately help our players. He knows what it takes to really be competitive."

Lamanna will coach both the men's and women's teams, both of whom finished fifth in the UAA Championships in April.

"I would feel good about us if we just battled every match, just kept it close and didn't get destroyed by anyone," Vulfovich said, "just played tough matches and went out and played as hard as we could."

The men's team plays its first game Sept. 27 against visiting Amherst College and the women's team opens its season Sept. 10 at Simmons College.