Riding the momentum of last weekend's sweep over Navy and Princeton, men's tennis hit the road and gained two more EITA wins.
On Friday, Dartmouth defeated Yale 4-3 in a match not as close as the score implies. At Brown on Saturday, the Bears found the Big Green too much to handle as Dartmouth rolled to a 5-2 team victory.
Dartmouth's previous problems at doubles were nowhere to be seen this weekend. Mixing up the lineup again due to senior Captain Holden Spaht's rib injury, Dartmouth took the second and third doubles matches to put the first team point on the board. Rob Simik '99 and Jim Rich '96 teamed up for the victory at number two, while the freshmen tandem of Gabe Sauerhoff and Erich Holzer took care of business at number three.
In single's play, the Big Green took three quick matches to seal the victory with four team points. Matt Fuller '97, playing at number three, won his match when his opponent retired in the third set.
Holzer then blazed through his match, winning 6-1, 6-0. Sauerhoff put the fourth point on the board, winning 6-2, 6-1.
Rich played a tight match, losing 6-4, 5-7, 6-7. After complaining that the ball had broken in break point of the third set, Rich's opponent was allowed to play the point over and managed to ace a serve and turn the momentum in his favor.
With the win secure, Spaht, at number two, retired in the third set of a probable victory to rest his nagging rib injury.
At Providence, the Big Green took the doubles point once again by winning at two and three. Austin Hawley '99 was rotated into the lineup to play with Rich, but the result was the same -- a 1-0 team advantage going into singles.
"This weekend, we won the doubles point in both matches which made our job in singles much easier," Spaht said. "On the whole, however, we have tended to play better singles upon losing the doubles point because of the sense of urgency associated with having to win four out of six."
With the 1-0 advantage, Dartmouth added single's victories from Spaht, Fuller, Holzer and Rueb to take the meet 5-2.
The weekend sweep put the Big Green in contention for an Ivy League championship for the second year in a row. The opponent standing in the way, once again, is Harvard. Dartmouth will travel to Cambridge on Wednesday for the deciding match.
"We accomplished exactly what we have wanted to accomplish. Now, we have a chance for the second year in a row to play for the Ivy championship, and that is something we are all excited about," Spaht said.
"We are trying to look at it as just another match," Rich said. "Too often in the past, Dartmouth tennis teams have gone up against Harvard with the title on the line and played tight. We will need to be lose and at our best to play with them this year, but I'm confident that if we fight as hard as we have all season and don't let the weight of the moment overwhelm us, then we will come out on top."
The Big Green will return home next weekend to close out their season against Cornell and Army. However, the meet on everyone's mind for now is Harvard. The Crimson have been nationally-ranked all year, but the Big Green appear poised and confident for the upset, championship victory.
