The men's and women's tennis teams knew, upon traveling to Vermont on March 8 and 9 for the Middlebury College Invitational, fierce competition lay ahead. The Middlebury Panthers men's and women's teams-ranked 10th and sixth, respectively-tested the Judges' physical drive and emotional mindset.

"The mindset was that we could beat them," said coach Ben Lamanna. "We're not scared of anybody."

While both squads failed to garner an overall victory against Middlebury, the men's team managed to leave the weekend with a win. Coming off of three consecutive victories, the men dropped their match 8-1 to Middlebury, while the 24th-ranked had similar struggles against the Panthers, losing 9-0.

On the second day of the invitational, though, the men's side regained its momentum, responding with a 6-3 defeat of Colby College.

The women's tennis team valiantly competed against Middlebury, but ultimately, their efforts did not produce a win. A glimmer of hope came for the Brandeis side as Carley Cooke '15, at the No. 1 court, challenged Middlebury sophomore Ria Gerger. Cooke, ranked No. 17, showed great promise in the first set by leading 5-2, however, dropped the match in straight sets.

The Judges failed to recover from the initial defeat. Ally Bernstein '14, Roberta Bergstein '14 and Simone Vandroff '15 all fell to their Middlebury competitors.

In a close match at the No. 5 court, Emily Eska '15 matched her opponent shot for shot in the second set before falling by a 6-4, 7-5 score.

Middlebury built on their initial successes with a sweep in doubles competition, where Cooke and Vandroff lost to Middlebury 8-6.

The men, meanwhile, saw an opportunity to break through against the Panthers. At No. 1 singles, Michael Arguello '17 lost to senior Alex Johnston, ranked 39th nationally for Middlebury. Although Arguello fell to his opponent, he took Johnston to a tie-breaking round, eventually losing 7-5.

"Arguello has improved by leaps and bounds since he arrived in the fall," said Lamanna.

"Particularly, his doubles skills have improved. He's a great competitor on the court and he does everything right off the court. When you watch him play, it's like watching a laser show. He crushes the ball."

Brian Granoff '17 continued to improve with each passing match. Much like his class and teammate, Granoff could not pull off an overall win against Middlebury senior Brantner Jones, losing 6-4, 7-6 (2) to the 31st nationally ranked player.

In the remaining singles positions, the Panthers defeated Ryan Bunis '17, Alec Siegel '15 and Michael Secular '15. Bunis, however, managed to earn three points in his loss.

"Arguello, Granoff [and] Bunis are all talented players who continue to impress with their hunger and fire for improvement," said Lamanna.

"We've got a great thing going right because the sky is the limit with this group. It's all about continual improvement and staying hungry."

The team responded with a win over Colby on Sunday, following a 6-3 victory from Siegel at the No. 5 position. The Judges went 2-1 in doubles and 4-2 in singles play.

The women's squad will welcome No. 30 Wellesley College on Friday before joining the men in New York to square off against New York University on Saturday.