Ivy League opponents continued to cause problems for men's tennis this weekend, as the Big Green dropped two matches and moved to 0-4 in conference play. On Friday, Dartmouth lost a close match to the Princeton Tigers (15-8, 2-3), and were defeated by the Penn Quakers (16-7, 2-3), who are ranked No. 69 nationally, in another tight match on Saturday. The losses bring the Big Green to 8-11 overall; in order to finish at .500, the Big Green has to win their final three matches.
Each time Dartmouth has lost the doubles point this seasons they have lost the match. Against Princeton, the doubles point proved again to be extremely crucial.
The Tigers were able to win all three matches, although the number one duo of co-captains Dave Webb '05 and Andres Reyes '05 and the number three duo of Priya Sahu '05 and Logan West '05 both took their matches into a tiebreaker before losing 9-8. The wins gave Princeton a 1-0 lead entering the singles matches.
The two teams proceeded to split the singles matches, each with three victories, making the doubles point crucial. Dave Waslen '07 at the number two spot and Brodie at the number four spot both won in three sets. Waslen has been the team's most consistent player, and he continued his stellar play this weekend. Priya Sahu also won at the number six spot.
Dartmouth needed one more win to come away with a win, but was unable to capture the victory. Reyes came the closest, taking his match to three sets before losing 6-1, 1-6, 7-6. Since returning from the team's spring break, Reyes has been moved back into the singles rotation and has played very well. He has gone 3-2 counting this weekend, but both of his losses have been in three sets.
"We were literally a point away in Dre's match from beating Princeton after he made an amazing comeback," Webb commented on the match. "I guess the feeling on the team is one of frustration; we keep playing well and having these close matches, but we keep losing. It's damn annoying."
The Big Green's luck did not change as they traveled from Princeton to Philadelphia to battle the Penn Quakers on Saturday. The Big Green again lost the doubles point. Waslen and Steve McGaughey '07 won at the number two spot, but neither Webb and Reyes nor West and Sahu could win their match to give Dartmouth the overall point.
Singles play equally challenged the Big Green, as they dropped four of six. The only wins came from Waslen at the number two spot and Reyes at the number five spot. Brodie, who lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, and Sahu, defeated 7-5, 6-4, played their opponents very tough before losing.
Webb and Schechtman also lost their matches, bringing them both to 0-2 on the weekend. Schechtman has been struggling tremendously since returning from spring break. He has not won a singles match, going 0-5, and was 1-2 in doubles play. This weekend, coach Charles Kinyon opted to replace Schechtman and Brodie in doubles with West and Sahu.
"It is sad to see how Jeff has struggled," Kinyon said. "He is a very hard worker, loves to play and will continue work to get back to his winning ways."
Schechtman definitely has potential to be a great player and bring a lot of victories to Dartmouth in the future. He is the only freshman to receive playing time this year; the other two freshmen have mostly been playing exhibition matches. During the spring season, however, Schechtman has been unable to fulfill his role on the team.
The Big Green have one more away match, against Brown, before they close the season at home against Yale and Harvard. "The guys are fired up for our last three matches," Webb said. "We are looking forward to playing the last two at home."
