Adam Brown '14 has been playing tennis since his parents signed him up for lessons at their racket club when he was 10 years old. Unlike many of his tennis friends, neither of Brown's parents was familiar with the sport, so he had to figure out much of the culture himself.

"I had to figure out how to play tournaments and stuff on my own and my dad never wanted to drive very far for tournaments," Brown said. "But it was good that way because I think I enjoy it more than some people. I've had to discover it for myself."

As captain of the men's tennis team, Brown has the responsibility of uniting the team both on and off the court. He struggled in the beginning to unify the five new first-years and the existing team.

"Once everyone became closer off the court, it became a lot easier to fight for each other in matches," Brown said.

"Tennis is kind of unique because you grew up playing it individually," he continued.

One of the team's biggest disappointments was the match against New York University, as they played them earlier in the season on indoor courts, which affects the pace of the ball and the environment because of a lack of wind or sun.

"Indoors, you have to play offensive or you're not going to win. Outdoors, you can play however you want and just be really good at the way you play," Brown said.

The match against NYU affected the team's seeding, and placed them in the eighth seed for the University Athletic Association Championships, although the team ranks 30th in the country, and placed seventh in the tournament.

Brown brought his team closer with a hiking trip in New Hampshire as well as captain's practices in the offseason.

One of their best matches took place against Trinity College. Head coach Ben Lamanna had not been able to win against them since he started coaching at Brandeis nine years ago. A couple weeks ago, however, the team was able to win the match 5-4.

In order to establish a rhythm between his style of play and his opponents', Brown takes advantage of the warm-up before matches. During the first few games, after getting a feel for their style, "each player make more errors than they do the rest of the match because they're trying to feel out their opponent," Brown said. "But then after that, you get used to the player and how they play, [Because] everyone does play a little differently."

Brown said that the sport has become much more than a game for him. He remembered last year's Senior Day, when the players were emotional speaking about the seniors. "It really just made me realize how much of a family Brandeis tennis was and how much it means to everyone," he said.

It will be a family he will miss next year, as he will be working in an information technology company in Hartford, Conn. "I interned there last summer, so it should be good, I'm excited for it, but not excited to stop playing college tennis," he said.

Brown has high hopes for next year's team and faith in the way the first-year players will carry the team for the rest of their time at Brandeis on the team. According to Brown, "They have all the tools to really take this team-we're losing no starters this year, so [they] just [need] to take the team to the next level."