It was a rough day for the men's tennis team yesterday as they took on the 24th-ranked Harvard Crimson in a match which would determine the EITA's king of the hill.
Heading into the match, Dartmouth was undefeated in the EITA and led the league as Harvard had lost to Princeton last Friday. However, the Crimson was a team to respect for they had upset then 2nd-ranked Boise State previously during Spring break, 4-1, and recently beat No. 23, Virginia Tech. Yet the Green weren't intimidated and they had a good shot at victory considering their season-to-date record. But in the end, the Crimson proved too mighty to topple.
"Unfortunately, they played like champs today," co-Captain Avery Rueb '98 said. "We, on the other hand, played like foam on a beer. When they started drinking, we just disappeared."
The doubles draw fell quickly into Harvard's favor as the Crimson swept all three matches.
At No. 4, Rob Simik '99 was the first off the court. Despite his blistering serves, the Dartmouth sophomore couldn't fend off his opponent's equally fast returns. Simik fell 6-1, 6-0.
Fellow sophomore, Erich Holzer didn't fair much better as he lost 6-3, 6-1, against Harvard captain Mittly Arnold. Freshman Andy Evans took on fellow rookie John Doran with similar luck, falling 6-3, 6-4.
Playing at his last home match at Dartmouth, senior co-Captain Matt Fuller put up the biggest fight he could against Phillips Tseng. For every would-be winner that Fuller fired off, Tseng would make a tremendous play and take the point. Fuller dropped his match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.
Playing at the top spot, Gabe Sauerhoff '99 took his game to the next level and faced off against Thomas Blake, ranked No. 21 in the nation. With huge serves and a baseline game which kept him in the match until the very end, Sauerhoff held his own against the Harvard powerhouse. But in the end Sauerhoff lost 7-6, 7-5.
At the five spot came Dartmouth's only win of the afternoon where co-Captain Avery Rueb staged a tremendous first set comeback and eventually won the match in two, going 7-5, 6-4.
Now with their first loss on the season, the Big Green is tied with Harvard for the lead in the EITA, with both teams at 6-1. The next challenges for the Green are Army, Cornell and the NCAA regional tournament in two weeks.