With an Ivy crown already on the mantel, the sixth-seeded Big Green traveled down to Boston last Friday to take on third-seeded Harvard in the NCAA East Regional.
Just two weeks earlier, Dartmouth fell in a 6-1 decision against the talent-laden Crimson. In a matchup that had the Big Green on the short end, Dartmouth quickly fell 4-0.
But despite the lopsided loss, the Big Green went down fighting.
The No. 1 doubles of Erich Holzer '99 and Gabe Sauerhoff '99 took on 20th-ranked team of Mitty Arnold and Thomas Blake. In a battle of bigshots, Holzer/Sauerhoff fell in a close 8-5 loss.
The freshman duo of Charles Drimal and Rob Chen played for the first time together at No. 3. With little in their arsenal that could rival Harvard's Mike Passarella and Phillips Tseng, the two fell 8-2. At No. 2, co-Captain Avery Rueb '98 and Rob Simik '99 were down 7-5 when their match was stopped because Harvard had already won the team event, amassing the necessary four points.
In singles, Dartmouth did not fair much better. At No. 2, Holzer dropped two straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, against Mitty Arnold. Co-Captain Matt Fuller '97, at No. 3 couldn't find his steady rhythm as he lost 6-2,6-3.
At the top spot, Sauerhoff faced off again against Harvard's big weapon Thomas Blake. With a tight loss earlier in the season, 7-5, 7-6, Sauerhoff gave all he could to topple the Crimson giant.
The first set fell in favor of Blake, 6-3, and it looked like he was going to win the match as he surged to a 5-2 lead in the second. But Sauerhoff, drawing on his mental strength, rallied back to send the set to a tie-breaker.
The Dartmouth sophomore then took the lead, 4-1, in the tie-breaker, but in the end just couldn't keep up with Blake as he stormed back to win the set and match with a 7-5 tie-break win.
With a 50-13 record, the bottom half of the ladder was where the Big Green's strength lay. But with Harvard already at 4-0, Dartmouth's Simik, Rueb and Andy Evans '00 couldn't take the courts.
Regardless of the loss, Dartmouth's accomplishments this year have been tremendous with an Ivy title and a record-tying most-wins season.
"It was a terrific season," Coach Chuck Kinyon said. "Especially after the graduation of the No. 1 and No. 2 players from last year's squad."
"What can I say about this team -- amazing," he said. "This is the second tennis Ivy Championship in five years and only the second in Dartmouth history."