The Eagles have three players ranked in the top 25 of the East region, but in a match that lasted four-and-a-half hours, victory did not always come easy for Boston College.
"We were well prepared for our match, stayed mentally tough, and gave 100 percent, but unfortunately we did not come away with a win," said Katie Jaxheimer '06. "It was great to play a team as strong as BC, though, since it helps us to recognize things we can work on individually and as a team for next weekend when we take on Syracuse."
Dartmouth's only win came during the No. 3 doubles match when Kerry Snow '07 and Maggie Suydam '08 made quick work of their opponents, winning 8-1. The crowd at the Boss Center then tried to cheer on the other two doubles matches in progress which were closely contested. Unfortunately for the home fans, Lindsay Winingham '07 and Megan Zebroski '08 were edged 8-6 by the No. 1 team of freshmen Dasha Cherkasov and Lana Krasnopolsky who are ranked seventh in the Northeast region.
The No. 2 doubles match also went down to the wire as senior co-captains Ann Scott '06 and Jaxheimer lost 8-6 to senior Szilvia Szegedi and freshman Alina Sullivan, the No. 10 team in the Northeast region. With the win, BC collected the doubles point, and the Big Green looked to regroup as singles got underway.
"It was tough to lose the doubles point, especially since we felt that we were in all three of the matches and only a few points ended up deciding the match," said Jaxheimer. "The positive atmosphere in Boss was very exciting during the doubles, though, and we were looking to carry it forward into singles."
But it was the Eagles who had all the momentum and they jumped out to an early lead by taking five of the six first sets in the singles matches. Dartmouth was never able to rebound and lost all six singles matches.
Suydam made her return to the singles lineup after sitting out with a foot injury and welcoming her back was Ali Krasnopolsky, the No. 66 player in the collegiate national rankings. Suydam fell in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Snow and Jamie Caplan '09 were the only Big Green players to extend their matches to three sets before falling 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, and 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, respectively.
Although a 7-0 loss seems like a demoralizing defeat, Jaxheimer said that there are a lot of things that can be learned from the Boston College matchup.
"BC was able to come out and put pressure on us from the first ball. They didn't make many unforced errors and were still forceful in their shot selection. It is important for us to practice in that manner and to make sure that we are aggressive in our upcoming matches and not simply waiting for our opponents to make an error."
Next up on the schedule for the Big Green is another power from the Big East conference: Syracuse. The first match is set for 11 a.m. on Sunday.
