The Brandeis women's tennis team left no serve unanswered last Saturday when they earned an overwhelming 7-2 victory over New York University.The women proved unstoppable in every facet of the match as they overpowered their opponents in the first four singles sets and swept the competition in doubles, winning all three matches.

Despite outstanding play by the Judges, NYU did not let them walk away with an easy win. Jen Krueger '07 and captain Abby Lerner '05 faced menacing competition in their singles matches: Krueger needed a tie-breaker to win her first set 7-6 (2), 6-1 and Lerner needed the third set to defeat Erika Olsen of NYU 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

First-years Colleen Donnelly and Ana Katz both ended their singles matches in two sets, solidifying the win for Brandeis.

Another intense match for the Judges came in the No. 3 doubles competition when Jenicka Hornung '07 and Christine Clancy '06 came back in a tie-breaker to defeat their NYU opponents 9-8 (6).

On Sunday, the women traveled to Hartford to take on Trinity College. After a devastating 4-5 loss, the Judges faced a solemn ride home while contemplating several shots that "quite literally could have gone either way," according to Coach Rocky Jarvis.

The Judges were ahead going into the singles competition after two strong wins from their ever ready No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams. Lerner and Donnelly breezed through their sets with an 8-1 victory over Trinity's No. 1 pair, while Krueger and Katz finished off the No. 2 team 8-6.

Following her stellar doubles play, Lerner posted a 6-2, 6-3 win in the No. 2 singles competition to put the Judges up 4-1 after Krueger's 6-2, 7-6 triumph over Diana Dreyfus, Trinity's top singles player.

Despite tremendous play, Donnelly could not hold onto the win in the No. 3 singles competition. As Donnelly stepped up for the second set of the match, Trinity first-year Brenna Driscoll brought some unexpected intensity to the court.

Donnelly won the first set easily, with an overpowering 6-1 result. But Driscoll turned up the heat in the second set to overtake Donnelly 6-2, and then followed with another victory over Donnelly in the tie-breaker, 6-3.

"I don't know what [the coach] told her, but I'd sure like to know because I'd love to say that to my team," Jarvis said with a laugh.

As the fall season rapidly approaches its finale, the team is critically evaluating its strengths and weaknesses in preparation for the upcoming season.

"We need to develop a little depth; that would be a big difference," Jarvis said. "But [Hornung] and Clancy are showing signs of gelling as a team which means our season is still looking good."

The women's next match is against long-time rival MIT on Oct 13. The Judges swept the Beavers last season.

The Brandeis men had an impressive, yet brief showing at the ITA New England Regional Championships last weekend. Mike Vulfovich '06 and Ariel Burman '08 both advanced to the second round in singles after intense opening round matches.

Burman lost his first set 1-6, but then rallied to defeat Cory Keller of Tufts in the last two sets 7-5, 6-3.

"Ariel played really well," Vulfovich said. "He came back to beat an experienced player from Tufts after fighting through a really rough start and then played the two seed very tough."

Burman and Vulfovich both fell in the second round to the No. 2 seed from Trinity and the No. 3 seed from Bowdoin, respectively.

"It was a great experience for me to have because now I have a much better idea of what I need to do to get to that next level and I'm going to work hard to do it," Vulfovich said.

The men have a long week ahead of them that will "be very telling," according to Jarvis. The Judges' postponed match against Amherst will be played Tuesday. After a close 4-3 loss to the Lord Jeffs last year, the Judges will be looking to reclaim their title in the upcoming matches.