The No. 61 Big Green women (14-1, 2-0 Ivy) delivered several exciting match-play performances in two conference victories over the weekend.
Playing at the friendly confines of Alexis Boss Tennis center, the women's team dispatched Columbia (3-10, 0-3 Ivy) on Friday afternoon, 6-1 before routing Cornell (8-4, 1-2 Ivy) on Saturday, 7-0.
Dartmouth is currently second in the conference, behind Yale, which holds three conference wins.
Dartmouth currently boasts the best overall winning percentage, ahead of fifth-place Cornell by 37 percent. Columbia is last in the Ivy League, holding the conference's worst overall record with only three non-conference victories.
The wins are particularly promising for the women -- last year the squad had similar success in non-conference play during the winter season but proceeded to drop every Ivy League match in the spring.
"It's definitely this attitude on the court that's a lot different from last year" tri-captain Megan Zebroski '08 said. "It makes a big difference in matches where there's not a big difference between the teams.
The only point lost against Columbia came during a third set tiebreak at No. 4 singles. Jesse Adler '10 was edged out 4-6, 7-5, 10-5 by junior Sydney Murray, a former No.1 singles player for Columbia.
"I think there was a feeling going into Columbia that we really wanted to get a good start," said Zebroski.
The women dominated Cornell with ease the next day, neither conceding a match nor allowing play to reach a third set.
Two Ivy League wins and the best overall record in the league puts the Dartmouth women in the forefront for the team's first ever league championship this year. But while Dartmouth is currently in the driver's seat for the Ivy League, the race for the crown is still wide-open
"Of course we're really happy with the way things went this weekend, but we've got five more matches" said Zebroski. "I think right now Yale and Penn are looking really strong, but you really can't discount any of the teams in the Ivies" said Zebroski.
The Big Green men (7-9, 0-2 Ivy) lost decisively to Columbia (9-6, 2-1 Ivy) in New York on Friday, 7-0. The next day, the squad was edged out by Cornell (6-10, 1-2 Ivy) by a close 4-3 margin in Ithaca, N.Y.
The losses place the Big Green in last place in the Ivy League, the only winless team in league play. Last year the team's only Ivy win was a close 4-3 to Cornell.
The losses were attributed, in part, to poor fitness, attitude and lack of preparation for road court match-play.
"I think a lot of it is physical toughness breeds mental toughness and some of team is lacking in the former and thus the latter," co-captain Mark Brodie '07 said. "We get spoiled playing indoors and then we go to all these places that aren't as nice as ours and were spoiled by ours."
The men fell to Columbia 7-0, but No. 1 doubles managed to deliver one match point for the Big Green. The duo of Brodie and co-captain Jeffrey Schechtman '08 defeated their opposition once more this season in an 8-4 win.
The lone Big Green player to take his match to the third set against Columbia was Curtis Roby '11. Unfortunately he surrendered the win, 6-3, 3-6, 3-0 after he was forced to leave the court due to illness.
"The Columbia match was a lot closer than the score," Brodie said. "We won one of the doubles matches and three or four of the singles matches went to third-set tie breakers" said Brodie.
While Dartmouth was able to get the best of the Big Red last season, this year Cornell enacted some revenge, edging out Dartmouth 4-3.
Brodie and Schechman delivered once again for the Big Green at No 1. doubles against the Big Red, but the Dartmouth men dropped No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, 9-8 and 8-7, respectively, to lose the doubles point.
The captains also delivered their singles matches for Dartmouth, with Brodie edging out his No. 1 singles opponent in the third set and Schechtman similarly delivering the win in the third set at No. 4 singles.
Justin Tzou '10 also picked up a point from the Big Red at No. 3 singles.
Brodie noted that despite the losses, the men's team is excited for next weekend.
"Our biggest rival is Penn -- that's the one we want everyone to come out to -- like, a fight broke out, basically, when we played them in the fall," Brodie said. "That's the one were most psyched for."
The women's team puts its success to the test with two away matches next weekend against Princeton on Friday. The women will then travel to the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The men's team, on the other hand, hopes to reverse its fortunes at home in a match against Princeton on Friday and against its major rival, Penn, on Saturday.
