The Dartmouth women's tennis team continued to impress in the early stages of its 2004-2005 campaign by dominating the Brown Invitational over the weekend. Out of six tournament flights, the Big Green claimed victory in five competitions.
Leading the way for the lady racketeers was co-captain Jayme Ahmed '05, who proved herself to be, without a doubt, the premier player in Providence. Ahmed captured the two top flights of the event by winning both the A singles and A doubles events.
In the singles, the eventual result was never in doubt, as Ahmed did not even drop a set during the entirety of the tournament. In the final, the Montague mauler dispatched of league rival Alex Arlek 6-4, 6-2.
Margaret Fitchet '08 maintained her impressive play in her freshman year on the Big Green by taking third place in the A flight. This fantastic first-year nearly reached the final before losing a tight match to Arlek, but Fitchet rebounded with a vengeance in the third-place contest to clobber her opponent from Rutgers 6-0, 6-0.
Megan Zebroski '08 teamed with Ahmed to win the A doubles competition in what was a successful reunion of a potent doubles tandem of yesteryear. The duo bested a team from UConn as well as two Brown pairings on their way to the title.
Adding to the Dartmouth doubles dominance was the pair of Fitchet and Maggie Suydam '08, who triumphed in the B doubles division. The fabulous freshmen dropped the hammer on teams from Rutgers, Boston University and UConn during their unbeaten run.
"Margaret Fitchet played really well in our doubles matches," Suydam said. "She was a monster at the net during my service games, which was awesome because it took so much pressure off me as the server."
Suydam and Zebroski also found considerable success in singles play as each won their respective flights. Suydam emerged victorious in the B division, highlighted by a semifinal battle against rival Katrina Elder-Bush of Rutgers. In the end, Suydam picked up a tough three-set victory, before going on to a straight-sets triumph over Amanda Saiontz of Brown in the final.
Zebroski rolled through the D flight with little trouble, dropping a paltry six games throughout the tournament. Aimee Charest was the final victim of Zebroski's total dominance, losing to the Big Green first-year 6-1, 6-2 in the final.
The impressive results came without the help of co-captain Sarah McNally '05, who was busy acing the Law School Admission Test.
In addition to their excellent play, the lady racketeers also earned the Alexis Boss Sportswomen's Award for the weekend. The award bears the name of former Big Green standout Alexis Boss '93.
"The team did a great job of focusing and competing hard for the entirety of the three-day event, which is often mentally and physically difficult," Ahmed said.
According to Ahmed, the team hopes to build off its success at Brown in their next tournament at the National Tennis Center in New York City this weekend.
