It's easy to see that 2006 was a year of unprecedented achievement for Brandeis athletics.The year certainly started that way. When the women's basketball team finally, after years of late-season elimination, made its first-ever NCAA tournament, the fan base was more electrified than anytime in recent memory.

And the year continued that way. The baseball team made its fourth consencutive postseason appearance, even though the game was rained out. In the fall, the volleyball, women's soccer and men's soccer teams all earned extended schedules. The volleyball and men's soccer teams even won their postseason tournaments.

Programs with such success inevitably bring more scrutiny. And while high profile departures of coaches are commonplace at larger universities, the public relations firestorm that came down on Sheryl Sousa this fall was certainly new to her.

Sousa, the director of athletics, became a common target for media, alumni and critics alike after she fired the only softball coach the University ever had in the summer. The coach, Mary Sullivan, was heartbroken, and didn't hesitate to share her outrage.

"Loyalty means nothing," said Sullivan, who had coached at Brandeis for 32 years, in an interview with the Justice in September. Former players criticized Sousa's emphasis on winning. Alumni chimed in, harping on alleged unfair treatment of Sullivan, who filed an age discrimination claim. Sousa and administrators do not comment on personnel matters.

Pile onto that the fact that Sullivan was once Sousa's coach, and it was just too juicy. In came the local media. "Brandeis University wants to change," began a November article in the Boston Globe. "It wants to win more basketball games."

Sousa, who acknowledged that the increased attention made it a difficult year for her, seemed to be as resolved as ever in an interview Friday.

"The focus isn't necessarily winning and losing," she insisted. "It's on quality. It's on providing our student-athletes a chance to excel.

"Yes, we're taking the experience we provide seriously, and we're going to hold our staff accountable to expectations," she added. "Our student-athletes deserve the best."

-Dan Hirschhorn