The Big Green men's tennis squad strung together a pair of routine wins over the University of Connecticut and the University of Vermont on Saturday at the Boss Tennis Center, bringing its record to 6-3 on the season. Returning to play on the Hanover plain proved to be relaxing for the battle-weary team, coming off a tough trip down to Oklahoma.
The competition on Saturday allowed the Dartmouth players to work out parts of their games through a match-play situation, in which they felt stronger than the opposition. Players who may have a tendency to hug the baseline and stay tentative in a grueling match could play uninhibited and charge the net at any given opportunity on Saturday, virtually taking target practice against the Huskies and Catamounts. The more relaxed environment witnessed Dartmouth players piecing together highly-strategic points in which the opponent was puppeteered all around the court, enabling Big Green players to groove their strokes and procure much-needed rhythm going into Ivy League play.
The Big Green Men's tennis team did not offer any objections to playing two matches back-to-back. In fact, they embraced the format, as a few different players were moved in and out of the lineup in for each match, giving some players much desired playing time. Why not play a double-header against opponents who will not threaten you too much and will afford a chance at building team confidence?
In the first match against UConn, Dartmouth came out of the gates on fire, taking all three doubles matches in comfortable fashion, establishing a precedent for the rest of the day.
By the end of the last singles match, the Green had a perfect 7-0 win sealed up. The only lost set came in freshman David Webb's match, as he dropped a tight first set 4-6 but pulled through impressively at 6-4, 6-0 in the second and third sets to put the point on the Dartmouth side of the scoreboard. Jesse Paer '04 played a grueling match against Husky Adam Sadowski, as the sophomore ground it out 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) with a ruthless barrage of shots from the baseline and timely play at the net.
"I think we did well to take the doubles point so easily and then to dominate the singles on practically every court," Neal Bobba '04 said of the first match of the day.
Any of the fans on hand to witness the match would wholeheartedly agree with the sophomore's analysis.
After a light lunch and a terse rest, the Green returned to the courts against the Catamounts of Vermont, whose coach was so laid-back and easygoing he looked as if he were stuck in a quantum time warp, allowing him to exist simultaneously in the early 1970s and the present.
Dartmouth clearly possessed the stronger team, and according to Bobba, "just kind of went out there and got the job done."
