The Big Green women's tennis team found out all too well yesterday that home is not always so sweet. Returning home after a successful weekend at Penn, the Green dropped a tightly fought 5-4 match to Boston University, a result that could just have easily swung the other way.
Dartmouth's top seeds had a tough afternoon, as both the No. 1 singles player and the No. 1 doubles team fell to their Terrier opponents. However, the Big Green responded to dominate the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, capturing all four matches at those spots. Michelle Bray '01 was ahead 6-1 in the first set of her match when her opponent defaulted, while co-captain Allison Taff '00, playing in the No. 3 slot, fought her way to a three-set victory6-2, 2-6 and 6-2. The Terriers were up to the challenge though, winning the final three singles matches.
The result was not as good for Taff and teammate Rebecca Dirksen '00 in their doubles match. One of the top teams in the Northeast, the tandem fell to Boston University's top-seeded pair.
"Its always hard to deal with a loss, especially when I know Rebecca and I could have played a lot better," Taff said. "Overall it was a good start to the season, however it would have been nice to pull out a win. BU is a well respected team, but I know we could have won."
Taff still maintained enthusiasm about the season and the Big Green's chances.
"I think the first match of the season is always the toughest and I'm very optimistic that our performances will only improve," she said. "We have great depth to our team this year and we've been working really hard in preseason so i'm excited for our upcoming matches. I think we're ready to pick up the level of our games and this loss gives us the motivation to do that.
If last weekend's result against Penn is any measuring stick, Taff's enthusiasm isn't misplaced. Dirksen and Taff lost to the number one seed, Blair Farr and Kerry Patterson of Princeton, 8-5, in the finals of the Cissy Leary tournament. Seeded second, the Dartmouth duo won four straight matches, including a 9-8 victory over Penn State in the semi-finals.
Dirksen also advanced to the semi-finals in singles, but lost to the eventual winner, Penn's Anastasia Pozdniakova, in three sets: 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
