The women's tennis team ended its season on a high note by securing several wins at the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament last weekend.

At the tournament, which was held at Bates College, Brandeis entered three doubles teams into two separate draws. In the first, the Gail Smith A Flight, the Brandeis duo of Carley Cooke '15 and Nina Levine '12 found themselves matched up against Amherst College sophomores Lauren Slutsky and Safi Ali. The Judges' duo stood their ground in the matchup, coming away with a 2-1 win.

"Amherst was a really solid team and had really good ground strokes," said Levine. "We were actually up by a lot in the pro set, which is the first eight, and then Amherst picked it up. We focused in, and made sure we were more aggressive and made more balls than them, and it worked."

In the following series, however, Brandeis was overpowered by the first team of Williams College, composed of junior Kristin Alotta and freshman Rebecca Curran. The Judges dropped this match, 3-0.

Roberta Bergstein '14 and Simone Vandroff '15 also participated in the Gail Smith A Flight. The duo squared off against sophomores Margaret Teague and Allison Bodek from Simmons College. Simmons put up a strong fight, and the team proved too much for Bergstein and Vandroff to handle, as they fell 2-1 in their opener.

Coach Ben Lamanna hoped for more from Bergstein and Vandroff but realized that injuries played a role in their early knockout.

"[Vandroff] is a freshman who was held back from a torn ACL, and had surgery after that, so she's getting back into it," he said. "It was a good experience for her."

However, in the A Flight Consolation, the two were able to avenge themselves for their earlier loss. Their first matchup in the consolation bracket was against the first team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which consisted of sophomores Julia Hsu and Lauren Quisenberry. The Judges had a difficult opponent, yet were able to outplay the other squad en route to a 2-1 victory. The next game did not turn out as well for Brandeis, as Clark University sophomores Gaby Suriano and Sarah Sachs ended the Judges' short run.

In the other draw, the Chris David B Flight, the Brandeis team of Allyson Bernstein '14 and Marissa Lazar '14 found success against Clark University juniors Rose Burberry Martin and Kristen Cullity. Bernstein and Lazar jumped ahead in the match and never looked back, taking a 3-0 victory in the opener. In the next match, the Judges squared off against Smith College freshman Jordan Dubin and sophomore Grace McKay-Corkum. However, Bernstein and Laraz dispatched with them as well, winning the match 3-0, and Brandeis advanced to the quarterfinals.

Up next for Brandeis was a stellar Babson College duo, consisting of senior Rebecca Stone and freshman Minte Tamoshunas. The Judges had a difficult time against the Beavers, dropping the match in straight sets, 3-0.

In dissecting the women's overall play, Levine believes that the Judges should be proud.

"Everyone played really well and didn't let the names of the schools affect their play," she said. "Everyone played their best, and since this was the last tournament of the year, everyone went out and took what they practiced and executed it perfectly. Overall, we did really well. There's always room for improvement, but this was a good tournament to see what we needed to work on, but everything we worked on through the fall season came together."

Levine was also thrilled with the team's chemistry and their off-court support of each other.

"The nicest thing, which is what I remember most about [watching Bergstein and Vandroff's match], is that we cheered a lot more than the other team, so the support was really great. Also, some peoples' parents were there, and we got to play next to them too. It was good to have on-court support as well as off court."

Looking forward, Lamanna has high hopes for his team to jump back into the national rankings after losing it earlier this season.

"We've got a good team, a solid team," he said. "We've got a great shot at getting into the top 30 in the rankings to get our national ranking back."

Although the Judges' fall season has now come to an end, Brandeis will begin a new tennis season this spring and look to carry over its progress into a new season.