Going into the match against Iowa (4-2), the women in green knew that they had a difficult match ahead of them. Not only were the Hawkeyes ranked in the top 50 in the country, but they also boasted two of the top 100 players in the nation.
The Iowa women asserted their dominance early on, sweeping all three doubles matches by comfortable margins. At No. 1 doubles the pair of Lindsay Winingham '07 and Megan Zebrowski '08 lost 8-2, at No. 2 doubles senior co-captains Katie Jaxheimer '06 and Ann Scott '06 lost 8-3 and for the first time all season the No. 3 doubles pairing of Kerry Snow '07 and Maggie Suydam '08 fell by a score of 8-3.
"We came into the doubles feeling a bit intimidated by Iowa's reputation, which made it difficult for us to compete as best we could," said Scott. "Although none of our teams ever got into a great groove, I think that we did learn how good our doubles are. On a better day, we definitely could have taken the doubles point."
Early in the season, doubles play has been an important indicator of Dartmouth's success. So far this season, whenever the Dartmouth women have won the doubles point, they have carried the momentum over to singles and won the overall match. But in all three matches that they have lost, they were unable to pick up that elusive doubles tally.
The singles matches were not any kinder to the Lady Green as Winingham faced a top-notch opponent at No. 1 singles. Meg Racette, ranked No. 21 in the country, made quick work of Winingham, winning 6-2, 6-1. Iowa's other ranked player, No. 91 Milica Veselinovic, defeated Suydam 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
However, the Lady Green did benefit from strong singles performances by Jamie Caplan '09 and Scott. Caplan knocked off Krissy Dowlin of Iowa at No. 5 singles in a wild, back-and-forth three-setter 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (5) and Scott continued her winning ways at No. 6 singles, winning in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (4).
The next day the Lady Green tried to salvage the weekend when the team took on the host Golden Gophers of Minnesota (2-4). Despite putting up a better fight on Sunday, Dartmouth once again dug itself a costly early hole when it lost the doubles point.
The No. 3 doubles pairing of Snow and Suydam won the first match at No. 3 doubles 8-2. With the victory the duo moves to 4-1 on the winter season, the best doubles record on the team. However, Minnesota took the next two doubles matches by a score of 8-4 at No. 1 and 8-4 at No. 2.
"Similar to the day before, our doubles play was not what is has been in the last month," explained Scott. "Minnesota's doubles tactics are not as classical as ours but they somehow find a way to win the points. Unfortunately for us, a doubles point that was well within our reach was lost. However, Maggie [Suydam] and Kerry [Snow] played a solid match and proved that these strong teams are well within our reach."
When singles rolled around, Winingham once again drew a nationally ranked opponent at No. 1 singles. No. 87 Nischela Reddy served up Winingham a goose egg, winning in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
Zebrowski got back on track at No. 2 singles by winning 6-2, 6-2, and Caplan and Scott made it 2-0 on the weekend by winning their matches 6-3, 6-1, and 6-0, 6-3, respectively.
"I was very happy to pull off two wins in Minnesota," said Scott. "I played a solid, attacking match on Saturday against a worthy Iowa opponent. On Sunday, I had an easier time than most of my teammates as my opponent wasn't at the same level as the rest of her team. I was glad that I could contribute to the team score but would much prefer to have a team victory every week."
At 2-3 on the winter season, the Lady Green is definitely not ready to panic. Dartmouth has opened its season with a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare for the Ivy League season still more than a month away. The Big Green have yet to fall to a team outside the Big Ten Conference or Atlantic Coast Conference in the early-going.
"We are trying to improve every week so that we peak during the Ivy season," Scott said.
Dartmouth will be back in action at home on Wednesday when it takes on UMass at 5 p.m. at the Boss Tennis Center.
