The Radcliffe tennis team yesterday took a breather between Saturday's hard-fought victory over Brown and this weekend's Ivy Tournament, shellacking a low-key Brandeis team, 4-1, at water-resistant Palmer Dixon courts.

Brandeis might have been playing in the rain, for all the success it had against the mighty, 10-1 netwomen. The Brandeis team, which plays its full varsity schedule in the fall, claimed only two players with previous varsity experience. It wasn't hard to tell which two they were.

The closest match of the day was won by Radcliffe's Sally Roberts. Playing at number two against Ronni Yellin, who didn't lose a match all fall, Roberts lobbed her way to a 6-1 first-set victory.

Yellin, who along with the rest of the team had just returned from a week-long layoff, seemed to regain her timing in the next set. Roberts fell behind, 5-2, before pulling out a clutch 7-5 match-winning victory.

Number one Radcliffe singles player Denise Thal, playing her second championship caliber opponent this week, lost 6-0, 6-1 to Brenda Schafer. Schafer, a junior, hasn't lost a tournament since freshman year and was ranked second in New England when she was 18 years old.

Strong Deep Volleys

Yesterday, Schafer dominated the return match with strong deep volleys that Thal, despite her strong overall game, could only return weakly.

"There are some players that you're lucky just to be able to return a shot against," Radcliffe Coach Corey Winn said afterwards. "And Schafer is one of them."

Lissa Muscatine, at number three, was more fortunate in her match, routing Theresa Provenzano, 6-1, 6-0. "The match was a farce," Muscatine said yesterday. "I just wish I'd forgotten my contacts again--then the match might have been more challenging."

The doubles matches proved no more troublesome for Radcliffe's powerhouse. The veteran duo of Katherine Fulton and Andi Okamura dispatched Bambi Graff and Nanci Miller by double 6-2 scores. Rita Funaro, playing with a new partner, Ann Koufman, at second doubles, beat Conni Mentana and Val Troyansky, 6-4, 6-0.