The No. 63 Dartmouth women's tennis team collected three wins in five matches during its Spring Break trip to Florida. The Big Green emerged victorious in its first three contests, downing Broward Community College, the University of the Pacific and Florida Atlantic University, before falling to a pair of nationally ranked foes in Florida International University and the University of South Florida.
In the opening tilt of the week, Dartmouth felled Broward 5-2 to begin the trip on a winning note. Led by a gutsy win at the No. 2 position from fantastic freshmen Natalie O'Rourke and Maggie Suydam, the Big Green captured the doubles point to take an early advantage.
In singles, a pair of scintillating sophomores paced the Dartmouth effort. Lindsay Winingham '07 defeated her adversary in a tight match, winning 7-5, 2-6, 10-4 at the second position. At No. 5, Kerry Snow '07 produced a key straight-sets triumph with a 6-2, 6-2 pummeling. Margaret Fitchet '08 and Katie Jaxheimer '06 also added to Dartmouth's successful outing by each posting singles wins.
The Big Green next faced Pacific, who entered the contest with a national ranking of 65. The Tigers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after sweeping the doubles matches. Nevertheless, the Dartmouth lady racketeers showed their mettle by prevailing in four of the six singles contests to win the match 4-3.
Dartmouth first picked up victories from the consistently solid first-year tandem of Fitchet and Megan Zebroski '08. Fitchet trounced Natalia Kostenko by the score of 6-1, 6-4, while Zebroski dispatched Anja Hermann 7-6, 6-3.
The remaining two wins came from a pair of gritty performances by Suydam and Winingham. At No. 4, Suydam overcame a 4-1 deficit in the third and deciding set to grind out a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory. Winingham also showed her toughness by pulling out her second consecutive three-set win and topping Katharina Heil 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
"It was very satisfying to pull out the 4-3 win over Pacific, especially after losing the doubles point," Zebroski said.
"Even though our team always competed hard, the match against Pacific impressed me the most," Snow added. "They are a strong team but I had so much faith in our singles players that we would pull through."
Dartmouth built on its momentum from the Pacific match to defeat Florida Atlantic in another close 4-3 battle. Once again, the strength of the Big Green singles play proved the deciding factor, as the team claimed all four of its victories in singles competition.
With Zebroski out of the lineup due to an illness, Ann Scott '06 stepped up with a key win at the fifth position, clobbering Pia Terol 6-3, 6-1. The remaining triumphs came courtesy of Winingham, Fitchet and Suydam, with Winingham again supplying the final win that clinched the victory for her team.
Florida International University, ranked 44th in the country coming into their matchup with Dartmouth, broke the Big Green's winning streak with a 5-2 victory.
Fitchet and Zebroski again proved infallible, as both players came up with impressive victories. Fitchet rolled over Nikkita Fountain 6-4, 6-3, while Zebroski tipped Shilla D'Armas 7-5, 0-6, 10-7.
In doubles, co-captain Jayme Ahmed '05 paired with Zebroski to shock the nation's No. 47 doubles team, beating FIU's talented tandem 9-7.
The following day, Dartmouth lost to another excellent squad, dropping a 5-2 decision to the No. 58 Bulls of the University of South Florida. Ahmed and Zebroski again won at No. 2 doubles to help the Big Green secure the doubles point.
The pairing of Ahmed and Zebroski, who had already amassed a championship at the Brown Invitational as well as an excellent performance at the USTA Women's College Tennis Invitational during the fall, continued their torrid play together by contributing two of Dartmouth's most impressive wins of the Florida matches.
Dartmouth next competes at Boston University on Saturday at 12 p.m. The Big Green will look to improve its 10-3 record before beginning Ivy League play.
"Spring break gave us a great chance to play some higher ranked teams and prepare for the Ivy season," Winingham said.
"Despite two tough losses to FIU and South Florida, the wins against Pacific, Broward and FAU gave us a newfound confidence that we can compete at any level."
"There were lots of positive aspects from our matches that we were able to take away this spring break," Suydam added. "I think we are very confident going into the Ivies this spring."