The Dartmouth women's tennis team started off its season at home with a decisive victory over the Long Island University 7-0 on Friday, Jan 19. The Big Green came out in force after only four days of team practice to sweep the Blackbirds.
Dartmouth (1-0) started out the night taking every doubles match and getting its first team point of the night. Subsequently, the Big Green beat each of the Blackbirds (0-1), establishing Dartmouth as the clearly dominant team.
Officially, practices started on the Monday, Jan. 15 due to Ivy League regulations.
Although Dartmouth does not have a bitter rivalry with LIU, a few of the Blackbirds had already seen the Alexis Boss Tennis Center when they competed in the Big Green Invitational last October.
In the first doubles match, Megan Zebroski '08 and Mary Beth Winingham '10 toppled the competition, 8-2. It was the first time the two had ever played together in doubles competition.
"The doubles did a good job of interacting and taking over the net. They served very well and made a lot of first serves," head coach Bob Dallis said.
Senior co-captains Lindsay Winingham '07 and Kerry Snow '07 won their doubles match, 8-3, to capture the team point.
"It was a good warm up match. Next week when we are playing BC, our top competitor, it will be good having one win under our belt. We were able to feed off of each other, we wanted to play and win faster than our other teammates did, the momentum definitely shifted towards us," said Winingham.
The third doubles match was secured by Natalie O'Rourke '08 and Jesse Adler '10. It was O'Rourke's first game since playing Harvard last spring after taking a term off to work in an environmental consulting firm in her homeland of New Zealand.
"Tonight was good, it was a good sign of things to come," said O'Rourke.
In single's competition Zebroski cruised to a double-bagel victory. Zebroski went 6-0 and 6-0 over Turkish opponent Merve Koksal in the No. 1 singles match. Zebroski is entering the season after being named second team All-Ivy in singles and doubles last spring.
The grittiest match-up of the night was Snow against last season's Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year, Ashley Harvey. Snow was Dartmouth's last player on the court and finally prevailed over her scrappy opponent, 6-3 and 6-2.
Last fall, Snow made the Academic All-Ivy team. She also had a winning league record last spring, going 4-3 in No. 3 singles and 4-3 with Lindsay Winingham in No. 2 doubles.
"It was a great feeling having my whole team sitting on the court and cheering me on. I thought she [Harvey] played a good match," said Snow.
Adler quickly silenced her opposition Amy Hosotsuji, hailing from Caribbean Island of Antigua. The Big Green freshman took the match 6-0, 6-1.
Lindsay Winingham defeated sophomore Liliana Cortes in the third singles match of the night, finishing 6-0, 6-2. Last fall, playing with her younger sister Mary Beth, Winingham placed 15th on the USTA Eastern Regional doubles ladder.
"We have never competed this early in the season before, and nerves always play a role. Our strokes are not grooved yet, at this point we are thinking about how to hit the ball and not where to hit it," said Winingham.
Mary Beth Winingham played in the second singles slot against LIU. She proved worthy of the high placement, proving herself by toppling freshman H'Ann Johnson, 6-1, 6-2. Along with her sister, she took first in the Big Green Invitational doubles last fall.
"It was a nice first match; a good confidence boost. Everyone was really supportive of each other, it was a lot of fun for our first home match," said Mary Beth Winingham.
"The players came out and did a good job of playing the way they wanted to play, taking advantage of what they have been practicing during the fall. Whether it was being aggressive, being more consistent or trying different shots," said coach Dallis.
The Big Green women are starting out this season with serious depth, with 14 players as opposed to last year's team of 11, which could help offset the effects of future injuries.
"It was lucky recruiting I guess. We wound up with a few more players than we were expecting. Sometimes you get lucky when it comes to admissions," said Dallis.
Next week, the Big Green will be hosting its archrival, Boston College on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. in Alexis Boss Tennis Center.
