The rackets have cooled and the courts are being pounded by the student body and out-of-season tennis players. Despite the fact that the women's tennis team ended the season with a disappointing loss to Harvard, the team can look back on an excellent season and have high hopes for the future.
The loss to Harvard was in a match for the Ivy League title, a game no one expected the Big Green to arrive at as title contenders. Overall, the team had a very successful season, coming back from a poor start and beating some very talented teams en route to a 5-5 overall record and a 5-2 Ivy League record.
"At the beginning of the spring, things didn't look too good due to a tough fall and winter," Captain Kiyoe Hashimoto '95 said. "Although we didn't win that one last match for the title, you have to look at how far we came and how much we accomplished over the year as a whole, and I have to say that this team pulled it together, every win was a team effort, and that's the best way to win."
The team opened its season with two losses and dropped its Ivy League opener to the University of Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the season, the team seemed unable to hold on to early leads and kept dropping the third set.
Then the season turned around as the Big Green went up against Columbia. The team pulled out its first close matches of the season and eventually the game, winning 4-3. It was the beginning of a five-game winning streak, stopped only by the eventual Ivy League champion Harvard.
The key to Dartmouth's success was its depth. The team could count on its doubles teams to win the doubles point every time. Both Deb Healy '95 and Tracy Lee '98 were named to the second team All-Ivy for their efforts. Healy was also named to the second team in singles play. Only Harvard was able to control the Big Green doubles matches.
For much of the season, Dartmouth seized the moment, building on the doubles point to take the match. It was the bottom of the order that provided much of the Big Green's strength. Often times, it was the number four, five and six singles matches that pushed the team over the edge.
"We really came together as a team and encouraged each other to play even better than we thought we could," Trudy Muller '96 said. "It was a tough loss against Harvard, but we still remained as supportive and tight through it all."
The team is graduating only two seniors, co-Captains Healy and Hashimoto. However, there are four freshmen coming in and considering the contributions of Lee and Katie Kirkmire '98, next season promises to be even better.
"The seniors, provided leadership and maturity to our team. We are going to be young next year, especially during the fall when Elizabeth Baker '97 is off campus," Muller said. "They also played important positions that won't be easily filled, but we all have the summer to work hard and get stronger. Over the past three years, I have learned a lot from them and hope to transfer those intangibles to the freshman."
Of course, after finishing two of the last three years in second place, the Big Green is certainly looking for the Ivy title. Fortunately, Dartmouth has both the talent and the depth to shoot for the title and will definitely be among the contenders.
