Only a week removed from an impressive performance at the Volkl Shootout, Big Green tennis held court against Ivy rivals Yale, Princeton, Cornell and Columbia during last weekend's Yale Invitational. Led by co-captain David Webb '05 and strong doubles play, a young Dartmouth program gained valuable experience going into the ECAC Tournament next Friday.
Webb, a second team All-Ivy selection, battled his way through a competitive singles draw -- twice coming back from a one-set deficit -- before meeting Yale's Brandon Wai in the "A" singles final.
On day one of the tournament, Webb found himself in an early hole after dropping the first set 6-3 to Cornell's Josh Raff. However, Dartmouth's top singles player quickly regrouped, advancing 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Later that afternoon, Webb easily rolled past fellow Canadian Darius Craton of Princeton 6-4, 6-1.
The following morning Webb continued his winning ways, knocking out Rajeev Emany of Columbia. After losing the opening set convincingly, Webb bounced back, taking four consecutive games and the second set 6-2. In the third and deciding frame, the Big Green captain surrendered only one break point -- from which he quickly recovered -- on his way to a dramatic 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory.
Unfortunately, Webb would go no further. In the finals, Yale's Brandon Wai -- fresh from a first round bye -- took Webb and the Yale Invitational singles title. However, the tone had been set.
Freshman Jeff Schechtman entered the weekend undefeated in his abbreviated college career and almost escaped with his win-streak still intact.
Schechtman opened strong on Friday defeating Yale's Andrew Arons 6-4, 6-1. Princeton Tiger Hans Plukas offered a far more demanding challenge, pushing Dartmouth's plucky freshman into a 3-4 third-set deficit. Yet despite his lack of big-match experience, Schechtman pulled out a very impressive 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 victory.
Cornell's Daniel Brous finally stopped Schechtman in the "B" division semifinals. However, the '08 resumed his winning streak at the expense of Cornell's Tongle Yu, taking third place in his flight.
"Dave Webb and Jeff Schechtman played very well," tennis head coach Chuck Kinyon said. "It was great to see Dave advance to the final round with wins over Princeton's and Columbia's top players, and Jeff showed that he will be competitive in the league with some very strong showings."
Though the Big Green played solid singles, its doubles play was simply dominant. At the "B" level, Dartmouth owned three of the four semifinal spots. Ultimately, Schechtman and Mark Brodie '07 defeated fellow classmates Steve McGaughey '07 and Dave Waslen '07, 9-8, to claim the title.
Dartmouth will resume action on Friday, traveling to Flushing, N.Y. for the 2004 ECAC Tournament.
