On Sunday the Big Green machine once again flexed their muscles and bulldozed both of their opponents, the University of Vermont and Boston University.
"A great day," Coach Chuck Kinyon said. "[We] played very well."
In the morning, Dartmouth faced off against its adversary from the north, UVM. The team took an early lead, as it won two out of the three doubles, earning the first point.
The lead-off team of co-Captain Avery Rueb '98 and Charles Drimal '00 quickly won with a 8-2 victory, while Rob Simik '99 and Austin Hawley '99 pulled out a win 8-6, playing in the number two spot.
UVM racked in a win against the Green as they beat the number three doubles team of Tom McGinnis '99 and Kirk Spahn '99, 8-3, but the win meant little as Dartmouth grabbed the coveted doubles point and went ahead 1-0.
After that win, UVM would have no chance as the Big Green took five out of the six singles to win the meet 6-1.
Rueb, at number one, having little problems in his match, won 6-3, 6-0. He started out a little tentative but found his groove in the middle of the first and cruised on from there.
Simik, with his massive serve, smoked his opponent 6-3, 6-0, as his dominant net play left his UVM foe motionless.
The two freshman Andrew Evans, at number three, and Drimal, at number four, again showed their strength as they won their matches.
Evans, in his collegiate debut, displayed little nervousness, as he throttled his opponent 6-1, 6-0. Drimal struggled in the first set with a 7-5 victory, but pulled it together in the second to finish the match at 6-3.
Mike Presley '98, at number five, played a smart game with deep, well placed shots, to win 6-3, 6-3. Dartmouth's only singles loss came in the sixth spot. Ervin Tu '97 won the first set easily at 6-0. During the first set, Tu's game was impenetrable as he pounded shot after shot pass his guy. But in the second and third, the UVM rival rallied back while Tu's game faltered. He dropped the last two sets 5-7, 4-6.
With the easy team victory, the Big Green headed into the afternoon's event against BU. Like Dartmouth, the Terriers of Boston had a young team, sporting five freshman and no seniors. But their youngsters were no match for the men of Dartmouth.
The Big Green started off the afternoon great, winning all three doubles matches and earning the first point. Although not playing at their best, co-Captains Matt Fuller '97 and Rueb finished off their opponents 8-6 in the number one doubles position.
Gabe Sauerhoff '99 and Erich Holzer '99 made up an unbeatable duo as they beat their guys 8-3. Following suit, the freshman pair of Evans and Drimal teamed up for an 8-5 victory.
With doubles out of the way and a point lead, the Big Green were ready to charge ahead in singles. But, in flight one singles, BU freshman Ian Carrera tripped up Dartmouth's Sauerhoff and took the match in three tough sets.
Sauerhoff won the first set, and had the match in control, but Carrera rallied back, playing defensive, non-aggressive tennis and won the next two sets 6-3, 7-5.
"I thought I played mediocre tennis at best," Sauerhoff said. "When you combine that with a superior effort on his part hitting winners from his shoestrings, it is not a good formula for winning a tennis match."
Despite the one loss, Dartmouth went on to win the rest of its matches in straight sets. Holzer finished off his opponent, 6-3, 6-2 while fellow sophomore Simik pulled one out at 6-2, 7-5.
Hawley, with his characteristically strong game, had no problem winning his match, 6-4, 6-1. The other two freshmen, Rob Chen and Walter Brown, easily dispatched their opponents, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-2, respectively.
"In matches against weaker opponents, one really has to focus," Rueb said. "We focused like Zen masters today."
With a 2-0 start to the season and an impressive playing from all its members, the Dartmouth men head for the ECAC championship -- the big dance of the fall -- ready to crush all who are in their path.