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In their first home match of the season, the Brandeis University Men's Tennis team found themselves in a 3-3 tie against Vassar College this past Saturday in Gosman Athletic Center. It was then that the squad's depth shone through to pull out a 5-4 victory. 
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The day got off to a good start for the Judges, as they won two of three doubles matches behind strong play from captains Josh Jordan '13 and Steven Milo '13 who won their match 8-6. They were followed by an 8-4 loss by Michael Secular '15 and Alec Siegel '15 before David Yovanoff '13 and Mitch Krems '16 won their match 9-7 to give the Judges a 2-1 advantage in the match.
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The good play in doubles matches spilled over into the beginning of singles play when Jordan rolled over Vassar senior Dan Freeman 6-1, 6-2 for the easiest win of the day. From there, the men dropped two straight matches when both Milo and Yovanoff were defeated, in the tiebreaker and straight sets respectively. Milo fell 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) while Yovanoff lost 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. The two losses tied the match at 3-3, and it was then that the squad displayed its ability to win close matches.
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Krems dropped the first set tiebreaker 7-5, but rebounded with determination to take his match 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-2 to give the Judges a 4-3 lead. 
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According to Matthew Zuckerman '14, Krems has been the Judges' "biggest clutch performer."
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"Mitch has been really delivering big for our team. He's a hard worker and he steps it up big when we need him."
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He was followed by Secular who was defeated 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to tie the match at 4-4, leaving the match in the hands of Siegel. Siegel dropped the first set 7-5 before rallying to take the second set 6-4 and cruising to victory in the third set 6-2. Siegel's comeback victory clinched the overall 5-4 victory for the Judges.
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Earlier over mid-winter break, the men defeated Cal Lutherean University 8-1 in their California trip before falling to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 9-0 and the University of Redlands 8-1, nationally ranked 5th and 16th respectively. 
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The women's tennis team had a similar fate in California, defeating 23rd ranked Chapman University 7-2 before falling to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Redlands, ranked nationally 8th and 24th respectively. The women had the day off from matches this past Saturday.
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According to Zuckerman, the Judges are focusing on typical early-season things: conditioning, efficiency and consistency.
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"We've been practicing at 7 a.m. in addition to our normal practices while focusing on the task at hand," he said. "We're looking to reach our potential. If we can maximize each of our own individual levels of performance, then we have a strong possibility of being a nationally-ranked team.
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Both men's and women's tennis return to action this upcoming Saturday. The men face Oneonta State before travelling to Middlebury College, while the women join them for an away match at Middlebury.