The women's tennis team took on Boston University yesterday at home losing a tight match to the Terriers 6-3.Dartmouth received strong play from some freshmen, but the new faces were not enough to turn the tide.
In singles action Kallie Buehler '97 beat the Terriers' Jennifer Mornii, 6-0, 6-4 at flight three, while Sarah Anderson '99 beat Sonia Prachar, 6-0, 6-1 at flight five.
"I thought it went pretty well," Tara Pennington '99 said. "I think that the moral was pretty high, but there's a lot of new people on the team so we were a little nervous."
Pennington paired with freshman Courtney Dill '99 to beat BU's Prachar and Elizabeth Clay 8-2.
The BU match was only the second competition for the women this year. Last weekend the Big Green had traveled to Princeton, NJ, where they competed in the Eastern Intercollegiate Tournament.
At the Easterns,Tracy Lee '98, playing first singles, came back strong after losing her first match to win the consolation round with four consecutive victories, including a victory in the final match against Katherine Rhee, a Yale player who beat Lee last Spring. Lee won 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
Behind Lee, the Big Green looked to returning letter winners Buehler, Captain Trudy Muller '96 and Katie Kirkmire '98, who all won in the first two rounds of their flights before falling in the third matches last weekend.
After losing their first, Debbie Healy '95, and their third, Kiyoe Hashimoto '95, singles players to graduation last year, the Big Green is pleased with results so far this season.
"We still haven't been here that long," Pennington said. "We just getting used to each other right now and getting settled in."
Last weekend, the youth of the Big Green shined through in doubles where Dartmouth took to the court a host of new faces this year. Penningtonand Dill won the consolation round at first doubles, while transfer student Carrie Lucas '98 and Sarah Anderson '99 lost in the finals of the consolation round.
The youth on the team will serve as both a help and hindrance this season, Coach Chris Kerr said. The lack of experience may be a factor early in the season but the team looks to improve at a rapid and consistent rate as the season continues.
Winning matches will be easier said than done this season, though. Harvard, who did not lose a single player last year, is ranked in the top 30, while Brown will have three international students coming in. Both Penn and Cornell will also have strong top singles players including the Big Red's Ogla Ishtoki, last year's Ivy League player of the year.
"We've just been trying to establish positions right now," Pennington said. "Hopefully, now we'll try and work more on our own games and start helping each other."
This incredible influx of tennis talent looks to make Ivy League tennis both powerful and exciting to watch. Dartmouth's next match will be at home Oct. 7 against Colgate.
