Dartmouth's men's tennis team took on Ivy League champion Harvard in the team's final contest of the year last Wednesday in Cambridge, Mass.
Harvard (15-6, 7-0 Ivy) was able to cruise to a comfortable victory, sweeping the Big Green (6-12, 1-6 Ivy), 7-0, as the Crimson finished its perfect Ivy League season.
The only victory for the Big Green came in the first matchup of the day. Dartmouth' s No. 1 doubles pair, Mark Brodie '07 and Jeffrey Schechtman '08, beat Harvard's first team in an upset.
The seniors, playing their last game in a Dartmouth uniform, won a close match, 8-7, against Harvard's Sasha Ermakov and Ashwin Kumar, a duo that was ranked No. 34 nationally.
It was a fitting end to the seniors' successful careers but was the last victory Dartmouth saw all day.
The other two doubles teams lost their matches to seal the doubles point for Harvard. Justin Tzou '10 and Dan Freeman '10 lost against their opponents, 8-4, at the second spot, while Ari Gayer '09 and Curtis Roby '11 were dispatched by Harvard's third team, 8-3.
Harvard's depth was the crucial factor that allowed the Crimson to dominate both doubles and singles play.
"Honestly, we were outmatched," Brodie said. "They had better players, but the most important thing is that they were deeper. With their reputation and their admissions process, they can bring in larger numbers of great talent, and it's tough to compete with that."
Harvard's combination of quantity and quality overwhelmed the Dartmouth team, which was unable to hold out against the Crimson's relentless attack.
"We knew we were underdogs," Brodie said, "But you can't go out there thinking you're going to lose, or else you aren't going to have any fun."
In singles play, Brodie, playing once again at No. 1, lost in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Brodie was only broken once in each set, but it was enough for the loss.
Freeman, demoted to the No. 3 spot after a recent string of losses, got off to a strong start and won his first set, 7-5. He lost his second set, however, and ultimately lost in a game-clinching tiebreaker, 6-2 (7).
David Fink '11, playing for an injured Gayer at the No. 6 spot, suffered a similar fate as Freeman. Fink won his first set, 6-4, but eventually lost the match in a third-set tiebreaker, 2-6 (9).
Tzou, Schechtman and Roby all lost in straight sets, sealing the shutout victory for the Crimson. Schechtman did, however, force a second-set tiebreaker in Dartmouth's third tiebreaker loss on the day.
Tiebreaker losses, close matches, fighting to the brink of victory and folding at the finish have been all too common for the Big Green in this frustrating Ivy League season.
The team came into the season with high hopes and have consistently come up short.
Freeman attributes a large part of the losses to a lack of focus and motivation.
"It's so hard to stay focused over such a long season," Freeman said. "Tennis is unique in that it's played as a team sport in college, but it still completely comes down to individual performances. Our team is so talented, but almost every match, someone didn't play up to their potential, including me. A team like Harvard just has that focus and plays at the top of their game every day."
Nevertheless, the Big Green seniors said they will look back on their final season in a positive light.
"The season was fun -- I think I played well and the guys were great," Brodie said. "The best part was the California trip -- we got to hang out together and play the sport we loved."
However, close losses will haunt Dartmouth's co-captain.
"The loss to Yale came down to me and I lost it on a third-set tiebreaker," Brodie said. "It's the pinnacle of sports competition, and you either walk out ecstatic or completely depressed."
Looking ahead to next season, Gayer will be the undisputed team leader as the team's only member of the Class of 2009, but he will get help from the his underclassmen peers.
"I'll definitely miss the seniors," Gayer said. "I can't believe this was their last match. It's going to be weird being the only senior, but I'm also looking forward to that too. It's been a long season, and it's weird for it to come to an end."
