In their first two home matches of the spring season, the Big Green tennis machine mauled its opponents and extended its season record to 9-3. First up for Dartmouth was Providence College. Although the Big Green dropped the Friars in a 5-2 decision last Fall, Providence was far from being just a bump in the road.
"Providence is really strong at No. 1 through No. 3 singles, so we knew that we would have a battle on our hands," said sophomore Gabe Sauerhoff.
In the doubles opener, the Green looked like their normal selves as they won two out of the three matches to take the doubles point. Rob Simik '99 and Rob Chen '00 were the first group off the courts, winning 8-4. The co-Captain tandem of Matt Fuller '97 and Avery Rueb '98 contributed the second half of the one-two punch. Consistent with their smart doubles play, Fuller and Rueb won 8-5 in their eight game pro set.
The only loss in doubles came from the sophomore tag-team of Erich Holzer and Gabe Sauerhoff. From the start, Holzer and Sauerhoff seemed uncomfortable. To complicate matters, they were playing a team of brothers whose huge shots kept Dartmouth back on its heels.
"Their returns hurt us more than anything else. They are one of the top teams in the region, and they played like it," Sauerhoff said.
Heading into singles, the Big Green held the one point advantage. The top three matches took the court first and from the initial points, it looked like the Green might be heading into trouble. Providence came out fighting with all their weapons.
At the top spot, Holzer just couldn't fend off his opponent's blistering ground strokes. He fell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Although only down a break in the first set, Fuller, at the No. 3 spot, looked like he had a fight ahead of him. But it was all an illusion as he won the match in three sets 3-6,6-3,6-3.
As always, the second half of the ladder out-muscled their guys and all brought home the wins for the Big Green with straight sets wins. Rob Simik throttled his guys 6-1, 6-1, while Rueb came in with a 6-2, 6-0 victory. Freshmen Rob Chen put up the last win for the Green 6-1, 6-2.
On Saturday afternoon, Dartmouth went up against the Eagles of Boston College. Continuing the one-sided victories, the Green took home the win 6-1 in matches.
Dartmouth did yield the doubles point to B.C., but that would be the only point the Eagles would get as the Green took all the singles matches in lopsided straight sets.
"The team after the first two matches reminds me of a spring morning," Rueb said, "a little bit cloudy at the start, but after a little bit, we just shine."
