That No. 1 singles match was indubitably the match of the night. Dartmouth's team captain David Waslen '08 took on BC's senior captain Soma Kestrel of Budapest, Hungary. Kestrel played a very smart game against Dartmouth's captain, grinding him down from the baseline with a very soft return and few errors. At one point, Waslen disagreed with a call on his serve made by Kestrel and the two entered into a heated exchange. Waslen eventually fell to Kestrel after trying to rally back in the second set and push it to a super breaker. The Big Green's captain fell 6-3, 7-6.
"I thought he [Waslen] played better in the second set than the first. He got his break back but when it is that close, it is a matter of inches. Soma has had some really good success, Soma is a good player," head coach Chuck Kinyon said.
The No. 1 doubles match was dominated by Dartmouth's Waslen '08 and Daniel Freeman '10. The pair toppled BC's Kestrel and sophomore Sam Wagner 8-3.
"Doubles was solid. I thought we played a clean match, we played a simple match. I felt that we were the better team and took it to them," Freeman said.
In the No. 2 doubles match, Big Green men Jeffrey Schechtman '08 and Steven McGaughey '07 quickly followed suit, smashing Eagle's second captain, junior Jason Sechrist, and freshman Thomas Nolan 8-3.
The No. 3 doubles match was more balanced, as Justin Tzou '10 and Ari Gayer '09 exchanged blows with BC's sophomore Alex Rastorgrouev and freshman Brian Garber. The Dartmouth men were down 6-5, but rallied back to win 8-6.
The first singles win of the night went to Dartmouth's McGaughey, who quickly put away BC's junior Geoff Mueller in the No. 6 court, 6-2, 6-1.
"It was good to get out there, especially after our doubles point. It felt good to take care of business and to really be focused," McGaughey said.
In the No. 2 singles match, Dartmouth's Freeman did a great job protecting his serve and beat out the tough Sechrist 6-4, 6-3.
"It was my first non-three set match this season. It was nice to finish after two matches. I definitely won it; he did not give it away," Freeman said.
Dartmouth's Tzou, who played No. 4 singles, had an interesting night. In the first set, he dominated Nolan, winning 6-2. The second set was a different story. Tzou seemed to have lost all focus and authority on the court, losing the set 1-6. By the time they started their third set, Dartmouth had already won and the two were pitted in a super tie-breaker. Tzou then bounced back and blew out Nolan 10-3.
"He played a very good first set and could not find the court in the second set. It was very unlike Justin to be that erratic," Kinyon said.
In the No. 3 singles, Schechtman had a strong win against Wagner, going 6-4, 6-2.
Gayer had to battle for his win at No. 5 singles against Rastorgouev. In the first set, Gayer was down 5-2 but miraculously came back and won the set 7-6. The stunning comeback left Rastorgouev rattled and frustrated, and Gayer quickly took the second set 6-1.
"Saturday's match is going to be a significant match. Manhattan beat both Harvard and Princeton at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships this fall. We beat them up pretty bad last year. They will be rolling for revenge," Kinyon said.
The Dartmouth men's tennis team will be back on the courts again Saturday, Feb. 10 against Manhattan College at 2 p.m. in the Alexis-Boss Tennis Center.
