The men's tennis team suffered a disappointing 7-0 loss Friday in first-round action of the NCAA Championship East Regional against the nationally ranked University of Miami.
Miami, was seeded fourth in the tournament behind South Alabama, Harvard and Princeton while Dartmouth was seeded fifth. The Hurricanes received a bid into the tournament on an appeal when they were initially left out of the four-team East Region.
The national committee expanded the tournament to six teams, seeding Dartmouth fifth and placing the Big Green in an extremely tough first round position.
"It was fun to go down there and compete against such a strong national team," Captain Kurt Bruggeman '95 said. "There were a lot of good scholarship players."
Miami showed from the beginning why it is ranked in the top 10 nationally sweeping the doubles 3-0 in easy fashion. With the doubles point in hand, the Hurricanes never looked back.
Number three player Holden Spaht '96 won the first set in his match against Ray Schot, but then fell 6-1, 6-1 in the second and third sets. Miami won all other single matches in straight sets.
"I was really proud of the team," Bruggeman said. "I thought we fought hard and played hard and it all ended up well. It was a great experience.
The Big Green ended its season 14-7, finishing second in the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association with a 5-2 record.
