The Big Green women's tennis team is quietly and effectively having one of the most successful seasons of the 2002 Dartmouth athletic year. Representing a pleasant mixture of veterans and youngsters, the texture of the women tennis players has been smoothly sanded all season long.
The women ran their record to 7-1 with three impressive performances this past weekend at the Alexis Boss Tennis Center, "competing at 110 percent, despite injuries, sickness and work overload from school," according to freshman phenom Jayme Ahmed.
Firing from all positions, the women racketeers pulled out the whooping stick on all competition, pulling opponents from side to side and collectively enforcing their will on any would-be perpetrators, which has been the ubiquitous theme all season.
In action last Saturday, the women pitched a 7-0 shut out against Vermont, demonstrating supreme dominion over the Catamounts. Moreover, the Big Green did not even drop a single set.
Getting things started off right, all three doubles teams beat their UVM adversary in the super-set format. The No. 1 team of senior tandem Carly Bashleben and Sarita Yardi dished up a tasty 8-0 bagel, stuffed with blistering serves, stinging returns right at the feet of the opposition, raisons and plenty of crisp volleys with exquisitely brilliant touch.
With plenty of momentum and desire that shined through in every match, the Big Green ladies headed into singles play with plenty of confidence. At No. 1, Bashleben duplicated her doubles result, putting together an artistic array of shots to down Molly Moran 6-2, 6-1. Ahmed and Arden Fredeking '04, at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots respectively, put two more flawless results into the Big Green win column, as neither player dropped a game. Lisa Borrowsky '05 easily topped Sarah Taylor at the fourth slot, and Sarah McNally '05 had little trouble winning at the fifth. Topping off the 7-0 team victory, Catherine Crandall '04 dropped only one game in her match.
Returning to action in the cold of Hanover, the women stretched out all the lactic acid built up in their sore muscles and took to the courts at Boss for a double-header against Connecticut and Providence.
Against the Huskies, the Big Green did not lose a single set, replicating the performance of the previous day by again winning 7-0. In action versus Providence, the women dropped only one match, posting a 6-1 win.
Doubles play remained strong, as Dartmouth swept through all six matches, setting themselves up for solid play and rhythm in singles. At the third singles spot, Ahmed won a pair of impressive singles matches by stringing together booming baseline ground strokes and timely net play, which led to a 6-1, 6-3 win against Natalie Tirapelli of UConn and a double bagel win against Providence's Erin Haely. Fredeking won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 against the Huskies, and posted a strong straight-set win at the No. 2 spot in the Providence match.
The Dartmouth women are definitely displaying a lot confidence, and they know they'll need it going into this weekend's play at Maryland and University of Virginia, both of which will prove to be formidable tasks.
Fredeking commented, "The fact that every single person competed her hardest despite personal adversity really says a lot about the mentality of this team."
The sophomore feels very positive about the Big Green's chances against any team. Look forward to some great play this weekend, as the women racketeers will surely play with every bit of adrenaline they can muster up, deriving it from the team's strong cohesion.
