The Justice

Media Credit: Julian Agin-Liebes

With the score tied at four matches apiece at last Friday's match against the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, men's tennis player Seth Rogers '10 knew he would have to win his No. 3 singles match to secure Brandeis a victory. Rogers, who closed out the win in three sets, said he's starting to enjoy those types of moments.

"I'm actually becoming really comfortable and starting to really enjoy those pressure situations," he said. "I guess it's just where I've been playing in the lineup, ... somewhere in the middle of the lineup, where there's a lot of, … not really pressure, but expectations to do well and take that point for Brandeis-and I'm starting to really get comfortable and enjoy it."

This is not the first time Rogers has come through to win the deciding match. At last season's University Athletic Association consolation semifinal match against Case Western Reserve University, Rogers defeated his opponent in three sets to secure Brandeis a sixth-place finish.

Having moved from the No. 4 to the No. 3 singles spot Friday due to the injury of teammate Mike Tatarsky '12, Rogers found out he would be the deciding match after teammate Steven Nieman '11 tied the score at four matches apiece.

"I saw Nieman played real close, and then I saw him after winning, and I had just split with [my opponent]," Rogers said. "So coach [Ben Lamanna] looked at me and was like, 'You've got to win this match, this is it, this is it right here.' So I turned it on and did it."

Rogers, who teamed up with Scott Schulman '09 to win 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, was one of only two Brandeis players to win both their singles and doubles matches last Friday. Rogers described the way he fed off Schulman's net play.

"It gave me a lot of confidence having a guy like [Schulman at the net]," he said. "When I was serving, I knew that if I served to my spots, every time [Schulman] was going to take the net, take charge and put the ball away."

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