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When looking to improve, a team needs to learn from high-quality opponents in order to develop its skills in the long run. 
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The men's and women's tennis teams did just that on Saturday against New England Small College Athletic Conference foe Middlebury College. The Judges fell 8-1 to the No. 14 Panthers, while the No. 22 women dropped an identical 8-1 decision against their No. 6 Panther counterparts.
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Following the loss on Saturday, the men are 3-4, while the women are 2-4. Incidentally, both teams have suffered all four of their losses at the hands of nationally ranked opponents.
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"I like to challenge my teams, both men and women," said head coach Ben Lamanna of his team's tough competition in the early stages of the season. "I owe it to my kids; they work hard. I want them playing the best players in Division III. The focus is on improving and competing well. The wins might not be coming, and it's tough to gain confidence after these matches, but we always talk about our players being task-oriented rather than ego-oriented."
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The Judges' lone success on the men's side came in the No.1 doubles match. Josh Jordan '13 and Steven Milo '13 downed Middlebury junior Alex Johnston and senior Spencer Lunghino 8-6. That score-line would prove to haunt the Judges, however, as Mitch Krems '16 and Alec Siegel '15 lost by an 8-6 margin to Panthers juniors Teddy Fitzgibbons and Andrew Lebovitz. Danny Lubarsky '16 and Michael Secular '15 fell to Middlebury junior Brantner Jones and freshman Palmer Campbell 8-2 at third doubles.
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Johnston would get his revenge on Milo for the Panthers' lone setback of the day, beating him 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 at first singles. Jordan fell to Jones at second singles 6-4, 6-4. The struggles continuted for the Judges, as Krems was downed by Campbell 6-1, 6-4. 
David Yovanoff '13 fell to Lunghino at fourth singles 6-2, 6-3. Secular then fell at fifth singles to Fitzgibbons 6-0, 6-1, while Middlebury junior Zach Bruchmiller defeated Secular at sixth singles 6-2, 6-3.
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Identical to the men, the women's lone win of the day came at first doubles, where Faith Broderick '13 and Carley Cooke '15 defeated Panthers seniors Brittney Faber and Leah Kepping 8-5. Again, that would prove to be the only success for the squad, however, as Maya Vasser '16 and Roberta Bergstein '14 dropped a tough 8-1 decision at second doubles to freshman Ria Gerber and sophomore Lok-Sze Leung. Third doubles were decided in similar fashion, as the Paradies sisters-junior Dorrie Paradies and sophomore Katie Paradies-downed Simone Vandroff '14 and Dylan Schlesinger '15 8-2.
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Leung would down Cook at first singles, 6-4, 6-1 while Gerger then proceeded to defeat Broderick by an identical scoreline. Allyson Bernstein '14 dropped a 6-1, 6-4 decision at third singles to Kepping, while Dorrie Paradies defeated Vandroff 6-2, 6-1. 
The last two singles were decided in straight sets, as Middlebury freshman Margot Marchese downed Bergstein at fifth singles and Katie Paradies defeated Alexa Katz '14 at sixth singles.
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Despite the heavy nature of the defeat, each team must quickly rebound. The responsibility of that is largely on the seniors.
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"It's really about the seniors, Jordan and Milo, and Faith for the women," said Lamanna. They lead by example. At their level, it's really about improving the little things. The margins of improvement get smaller and smaller. There's fewer ways to get better and the attention to the detail needs to be there. Seniors get how to compete; they don't beat themselves. They let it all ride out."
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The Judges will host NESCAC opponents Bates College this weekend. The men's squad will compete on Friday at 4 p.m., while the women's team will take on the Bobcats on Saturday at 1 p.m.