At this point last year, both tennis teams were struggling heading into the University Athletic Association championships. But this season, the Judges are surging at just the right time.The women's team has won six of its last seven matches, including 9-0 and 6-3 victories Saturday over Smith College and Mount Holyoke College, respectively. The men's team won five of six matches, including an 8-1 victory over New York University Saturday and a 5-4 victory over Salve Regina University Monday, before losing 6-1 to Division I Boston College Sunday.

The women's team improved to 8-6 on the season and 2-1 in the UAA, while the men's team is 9-7 and 3-0 in conference play. The women's match against Colby College Sunday was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Last spring, both squads had promising starts before going into late-season tailspins. After starting 6-1, the men's team lost five of seven matches and eventually finished last at UAA championships. The women had a midseason three-game winning streak, but followed it up with a four-game skid and a seventh-place finish at UAAs.

But after struggling early this spring, both teams appear to be playing their best tennis coming into the UAAs.

"There's no excuse to not be playing well at this point in the year, because we've been building up to these next two weekends," coach Ben Lamanna said.

In their victory over Mount Holyoke, the women won two of the three doubles matches. Colleen Donnelly '08 and Gabrielle Helfgott '09 secured an 8-0 shutout over seniors Aleksandra Mihailovic and Ashley Fallon. Brandeis then picked up victories at four of the six singles spots to provide the margin of victory.

"The theme of the day for us was energy, and we showed a lot of it from the start and set a tone throughout the match," assistant coach Ethan Branum said.

After winning all three doubles matches in their shutout of Smith, the Judges won four singles matches in straight sets. Donnelly defeated Smith junior Seiko Fuji 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, and Katz beat freshman Miyu Kikuchi 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.

Improved doubles play has spurred the women's team on its recent run. The Judges are 6-1 since Lamanna settled on Donnelly and Helfgott at the No. 1 doubles spot, with Katz and Jenicka Hornung '07 at No. 2.

"It's been really important to have doubles partners that we're comfortable with, because you can calm each other down or boost each other up when you need to," Donnelly said.

The men swept all three doubles matches against NYU, losing only five games in doubles play. Brandeis then won five of six singles matches. Sam Jonas '07, who switched back to No. 1 singles after playing No. 2 singles earlier in the year, easily defeated Violet junior Mikhail Gurevich 6-0, 6-1.

"[Jonas] always had a lot of talent, and he's now better with the pressure of playing in the top spot," Lamanna said.

The men rallied against Salve Regina College Monday after losing two of three doubles matches. The Judges needed to win at least four of six singles matches to pull out a victory, but despite the absence of Mike Vulfovich '07 and a loss by Jonas, they did just that. Cliff Silverman '07 punctuated the comeback with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over freshman Andrew Martin at No. 4 singles.

"It seems like every match there's a different person playing the hero," Vulfovich said.

Brandeis' winning streak came to an end with a loss against Boston College Sunday. Scott Schulman '09 picked up the only victory for the Judges at No. 5 singles, while Vulfovich and Jonas fell 9-7 at No. 1 doubles.

Despite their loss, Vulfovich and Jonas can still secure a spot in the national Division III doubles tournament because they are 12-3.

"We're kind of opposites, because he's the real solid player that grinds it out and I'm the flashier one that's more likely to hit the big winner," Vulfovich said. "You can never really get used to one style playing us."

The women competes at UAA championships in Cleveland this weekend, while the men's team hosts Wesleyan University April 24.