With unrelentless playing and gritty tenacity, the men's tennis team let its presence be known by reaching the semifinal matches at the ECAC championships last weekend.
"I'm very pleased with how we came out," Coach Chuck Kinyon said. "My players played unbelievably."
In their first round match against Cornell University, injuries were a concern for the Big Green, as number four player Kurt Bruggeman '95 (with a strained stomach muscle) and number five player Avery Rueb '98 (with an inflamed shoulder muscle) had to pull out of their singles matches when Dartmouth was leading 4-1.
Despite the setbacks caused by the two players' injuries, Dartmouth still managed to squeeze by Cornell 4-3.
On the second day of the tournament, Dartmouth -- with Bruggeman back in action -- took on the always tough Columbia squad.
In order for the Big Green to beat the number three seeded 1993 Ivy League Champions, flawless play was needed. Fortunately, that's exactly what they had.
"It was the best Dartmouth has ever done at the ECACs" Bruggeman said. "I knew we had the abilities, and we just came together at the right time. It was definitely a nice surprise for us."
Losing three starters from last year's squad, the Big Green were hesitant to set high goals when entering this year's tournament.
"It was a great weekend especially for how young we are," Jim Rich '96 said. "Beating Columbia was tremendous. We showed up on Saturday as a team. We were just going out there to have fun, and we all came on at the same time."
Not only did the Big Green pull off the upset of the tournament, but they did it decisively with a 5-2 rout. Doubles play is what started the ball rolling for Dartmouth.
"Our doubles was very good, and that helped us vault our way into the match," Kinyon said. "We're enthusiastic when we go into singles, which we also have been playing good."
After capturing the doubles points with victories from the number one team of Rich and Holden Spaht '96 and the number two team of Bruggeman and Matt Fuller '97, the Big Green continued to dominate as they went on to play the singles.
Rich, who was undefeated in the tournament, led the Dartmouth team at the number one spot, while Fuller upset his top-ranked opponent from Columbia. Spaht and Bruggeman also captured singles victories at the three and four spots, respectively.
"We have four tough players," Kinyon said. "They all just really played to their potential in these matches. They are players you can count on. We are very thin in terms of numbers and experience, so those experienced players we have need to come to the plate and perform, if we want to do well."
But with injuries as an ongoing problem and youth being a prominent feature of the squad, the Big Green are becoming weary of always depending on their top players. Instead, the team encourages the younger players to step out and add support.
"Injury scares me," Kinyon said. "I think we can get better, though, because the guys down below are getting experience, so they'll improve by the spring and take a little pressure off those top four."
After Saturday's well played matches, Sunday was a bit of a letdown for the Big Green. Although the team played well against Cornell and Columbia, they didn't play well enough to beat Princeton Later in the day, Harvard fought Princeton for the title and came out on top.
With only two individual tournaments remaining, the Big Green are finished with team competition for the fall, yet they are already planning for their spring competitions.
"Beating the defending Ivy League champs after graduating three key senior players was an amazing feat," Spaht said. "We served notice to the rest of the League that we will vie for the Ivy League Title."
