With last Wednesday's win 4-3 against Harvard, Dartmouth's women's tennis team finished its season with a winning conference record, taking fourth place in the Ivy League.
The Big Green (16-4, 4-3 Ivy) experienced a big turnaround from last season's woeful league play. Last season, Dartmouth did not win a single Ivy League match and finished in last place in the Ivy standings.
"4-3 is really solid relative to last year," captain Maggie Suydam '08 said.
It is the first winning Ivy season for the Big Green since the 1999-2000 season.
"I'm just really glad to have this as our last year compared to the other years we've had," captain Megan Zebroski '08 said.
Suydam, Zebroski and Catja Carrell '08 finished the last match of their college tennis careers with a victory over the Crimson.
The win was the first time the team's seniors have ever beaten the Crimson.
"[In matches against Harvard], we've rarely gotten points even," Suydam said. "Our freshman year, we only won one match."
The Big Green also broke the team record for wins in a single season with 16, two more than its previous record of 14 set in the '02-'03 season.
"Our results and the way we've practiced this year are just so much better," Zebroski said.
Although the final tally of the Harvard (2-16, 2-4 Ivy) match was close, no match reached the third set. In the singles matches Dartmouth won, neither team gave up more than five games total.
"It was 4-3 in matches, but if you look at the scores in matches we won, it wasn't really that close," Suydam said.
Georgiana Smyser '11 and Carley Markovitz '10 both defeated their opponents in singles at No. 5, and No. 6. Smyser lost four games and Markovitz lost only three.
"The way Harvard is, their top four are really good, and then when you go down they're not that good," Suydam said.
Following Smyser's victory, 6-4, 6-0, lighting forced the teams indoors. Markovitz played her match, the last to be decided, alone on the court with the match tied 3-3.
Despite the pressure, Markovitz delivered an easy 6-1, 6-2 victory over the Crimson's freshman Margarita Krivitski to shore up the win.
"The three-all matches are the most exciting and most fun to play in, but there's a lot of pressure," Suydam said. "[Markovitz] held it together really well."
The only close match of the afternoon was the No. 2 doubles match of Mary Beth Winingham '10 and Jesse Adler '10. The pair kept the match close but consistently trailed their Harvard opponents by one game for the first half of the match.
The Big Green duo managed to pull ahead of the Crimson with an opportunity to finish the game up at 7-6. The Crimson pushed the match to a tiebreak though, which Winingham and Adler summarily won 7-3.
The solid sophomore duo looks to be a leader in doubles next season. They will be the only upperclassmen doubles team after this year's crop of seniors graduate.The match followed the wins of No. 1 and No. 3 doubles though, and thus the doubles point had already been secured for Dartmouth.
At No. 3 doubles, the senior- freshman pair of Suydam and Smyser took the first few matches slowly, falling down 3-1, but in the end defeated their Harvard opponents, winning seven games straight.
"We realized they weren't that good," Suydam said.
The match was the last of Suydam's college tennis career, as was the No. 2 singles match for Zebroski. Zebroski finishes with a 4-3 Ivy record in singles and 15 No. 1 doubles wins.
Zebroski and Molly Scott '11 at No. 1 doubles paired off against Crimson junior Beier Ko and freshman Samantha Rosekrans. The match was heated and the Big Green struggled to handle the serves and volleys of Rosekrans.
But the Big Green made some adjustments to take back the game and close out Harvard's duo solidly, 8-6.
"[Rosekrans] was definitely tough to play up at the net, so we ended up playing two back," Zebroski said.
Zebroski went on to finish her college tennis career with a clear cut 6-4, 6-1 win over the Crimson's No. 2 singles player, junior Laura Peterzan.
"Finally, it's actually over," Suydam said. "We can be real, normal Dartmouth students for once."
Regarding the seniors' plans for their new free time, Zebroski said, "We have a checklist."
The seniors looked back upon their experience on the Dartmouth tennis team with no regrets.
"It's been by far the most positive experience I've had here," Suydam said. "Even to neglect academics and other organizations I'm in, its definitely the most worthwhile way I've spent my time on a daily basis."
"Some of my best experiences at Dartmouth would not have been had, had it not been for Dartmouth tennis." Zebroksi added. "Just being able to represent our school when we travel and playing here at home in front of our friends is just a really great experience and something I'll remember."
The seniors added that they are proud of the team and the legacy they will leave behind.
"They have so much potential for the next couple years," Suydam said.
"I'm really excited to see how they'll do in the next few years," Zebroski agreed. "They have potential to do great things, and I'm sad not to take part in it but its definitely really exciting."