The Justice

Media Credit: David Sheppard-Brick Rachel Rosman '11 prepares to hit a backhand during last Tuesday's match against Simmons College. The women's tennis team won the match 6-3 and finished the fall season with a 2-0 record in dual meets.

CORRECTION: A new version of this story has been posted due to a factual error that is listed at the bottom of the article. The Justice regrets the error.

Rachel Rosman '11 was already having a banner fall season, but she ended it with an exclamation point at the season-ending New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament last weekend.

Playing in a third-round singles match in the A-flight two-person draw, Rosman routed Williams College senior Cary Gibson, last year's NCAA Division III singles runner-up, 6-0 6-4. While that individual singles victory was not enough to lead her and partner Gabrielle Helfgott '09 to an upset win over the top-seeded pair of Gibson and sophomore Nicole Reich, Rosman ensured her last individual singles match of the season would be a success.

"I've gotten much more mentally tough and able to move onto the next point. A year ago, I would have gotten a lot more frustrated and I don't think I would have been able to dig out as many points as I did [against Gibson]," Rosman said.

At the NEWITT tournament, pairs played three matches-one doubles match and two singles matches-to determine which duo moved on to the next round. Coach Ben Lamanna said this format was the main reason for his decision to play Helfgott with Rosman instead of Sara Richman '12, Rosman's doubles partner for most of the fall season.

Two other women's pairings competed in the tournament. The duo of Mackenzie Gallegos '11 and Richman fell 3-0 to Amherst College in the third-round, while Nina Levine '12 and Ria Chadha '11 competed together in the B-flight draw, losing in the second round.

The women's team also defeated Simmons College 6-3 last Tuesday, moving their fall record in dual matches to 2-0.

The men's team's fall season ended at the James Wallach Invitational on Oct. 11. No. 1 singles player Steven Nieman '11 highlighted the Judges' tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals in the A- flight singles bracket before losing to Bowdoin College sophomore Stephen Sullivan.

"[Nieman] has played well for us, but he still has to play better in big points against better players," Lamanna said. "He's close."

Rosman and Helfgott swept a pairing from Clark University 3-0 in the first round and a Connecticut College duo 3-0 in the second round before facing Williams. Rosman and Helfgott lost the doubles match 8-6 before Rosman's victory over Gibson, but Helfgott lost her singles match to Reich, allowing the Williams College pair to move on.

Gibson made several unforced errors during the doubles match and her struggles carried over into her match against Rosman. Rosman said she countered Gibson by keeping the ball in play, allowing Gibson to continue to make errors.

"I just played directional tennis, keeping my balls consistent and playing a lot of defense," Rosman said. "I just kept giving her balls back, and eventually she would make a mistake."

The strategy propelled Rosman to a 6-0 sweep in the first set. Gibson picked up her play in the second set, but Rosman stuck to her game plan. With Gibson holding a 4-3 lead, Rosman held serve to tie the score, broke Gibson's serve to take a 5-4 lead and held her serve to close out a 6-4 second-set win.

"I had to make sure I kept the ball very deep, because when [Gibson] gets those short balls, she's very good at coming in with an aggressive, powerful shot," Rosman said.

Gallegos and Richman had a first-round bye, then defeated a duo from Colby College 3-0 before falling to Amherst College. Levine and Chada defeated a pair from Smith College 2-1 in the first round of the B-flight before falling to Regis College 2-1 when Levine lost a deciding third-set super tiebreaker in her singles match.

The men's team also went 2-0 in dual matches this fall and will return its entire starting lineup, with the possible exception of No. 2 singles player Simon Miller '11. Lamanna said Miller is not currently playing or practicing with the team and that his status for next season and beyond has yet to be determined.

Correction: In the original story, coach Ben Lamanna was attributed as saying that Simon Miller '11 was not going to play in the spring season. Lamanna actually said that Miller's status has yet to be derermined.

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