The men's tennis team marched through this past weekend unscathed and rolled over both its opponents, remaining undefeated in the Ivies and extending their season record to 15-3.
The potential was there for a tension-filled showdown -- these two matchups were critical to the Big Green's dreams of a second Ivy League championship.
But in the end, both Brown and Yale turned out to be only bumps in Dartmouth's road to Harvard and the EITA title.
"The win summed up our season. We got dirty in the trenches while our opponents refused to get their white collars messy," co-Captain Avery Rueb '98 said. "We will take our blue collar spirit into the Harvard match and with a little help from our friends we might win."
Friday's match had the Bears of Brown traveling to Hanover. In what would define the Green's playing this entire weekend, Dartmouth swept the doubles matches and seized the first point.
All three pairs played with great communication and smart play that the Bears could do nothing against. Heading into singles, the Bears faced a similar fate. Rueb, and sophomores Rob Simik and Gabe Sauerhoff, dropped their opponents in a hurry and clinched the easy win for the Green.
Saturday held the very important matchup as the Green went up against the Bulldogs of Yale. With a 7-0 loss to Harvard , Yale had to be beaten for the Green to continue on its way. And armed with huge shots and an indestructible mental game, Dartmouth did its job, sending the Bulldogs home in a 5-2 loss.
After a four game stint of losing every doubles point, the Green, like the day before, swept the doubles draw and took the first point. However, Yale's strength was in their singles and that's where the Big Green would have to step up its play.
Playing at the top spot, Sauerhoff was in a tight fight against Yale's Mark Warnken. Sauerhoff got the first set easily 6-1, as he fired off heated serves.
But Warnken rallied back in the second, 6-2, with equally impressive baseliners which Sauerhoff couldn't run down.
In the third, Sauerhoff took his game to the next level and left Warnken behind in a 6-3 victory, improving his league record to an impressive 5-1.
Leading the Ivy League, the Green has its biggest challenge of the season facing off against the perennial powerhouse Harvard here on Tuesday.
"If we are prepared mentally to play Harvard, I think we will have a very strong chance of beating them," Mark Fuller '97 predicted, "We've just been playing that well this season. I think a lot of it will come down to our confidence coming into the match."
