Leaving the rain in Hanover behind for California sunshine, Dartmouth women's tennis player Molly Scott '11 could not enjoy the West Coast for long, as she lost her opening match Saturday in the prequalifying draw of the 2008 Riviera-Intercolleigate Tennis Association Women's All-American championship hosted by Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.
Scott, unseeded in the prequalfying draw, bowed out of the tournament in a three-set loss to fourth-seeded Tinesta Rowe of Fresno State, 6-4, 1-6, 4-6.
The turning point of the match came when Rowe battled back from a first-set loss to dominate the second set. Rowe, a senior at Fresno State, had complete control during this critical second set and broke Scott's serve multiple times to even the best-of-three match at a set apiece.
"She stepped up her game in the second set," Scott said. Scott was the Big Green's first singles player as a freshman last season as well as a second team All-Ivy singles and first team All-Ivy doubles player.
This was Scott's first time playing Rowe, and Scott said she did not feel adequately prepared due to an illness she experienced days before the tournament.
Scott, playing in this tournament for the first time, started off playing strong in the first set, breaking Rowe's serve twice.
The third set proved to be a much closer affair, but the Bulldogs' Rowe edged Scott out to knock Dartmouth's only representative out of the tournament.
Scott did not feel outclassed or outmatched by her older opponent.
"If I played her again...it could go either way," she said. "I've figured out her game now."
Scott qualified for the event based on her ITA No. 15 east regional ranking from last season. Rowe, ranked No. 1 in doubles this season, was a finalist in the 2008 NCAA women's doubles tournament.
After beating Scott, Rowe lost in the second round of prequalifying to Nadja Gilchrist of the University of Georgia, 6-2, 6-1.
There are three brackets at the Riviera tournament, considered one of the major championships of college tennis. Sixty-four singles players enter each prequalifying draw, from which only the top eight advance to the 64-players qualifying draw. Similarly, only the top eight competitors from the qualifying draw earn spots in the main draw of 32 players, which has automatic qualifiers such as last year's tournament winner and ITA All-Americans.
The main draw competition begins Thursday, Oct. 2, and runs until Sunday, Oct. 5. Favorites for the women's singles title include Arkansas' Aurelija Miseviciute, 2007 runner-up Ani Mijacika of Clemson and 2008 NCAA singles champion Amanda McDowell of Georgia Tech.
Despite the loss, Scott enjoyed competing in such a prestigious tournament. She received strong support from her teammates in Hanover, who sent encouraging words via e-mail.
"It was really fun to go out to California and be in a tournament with a lot of really good players," Scott said.
She leads a Dartmouth team that has high expectations for this year after a breakout performance last spring. That season, the Big Green set a new team record for overall wins with 16, and finished with a winning record (4-3) in the Ivy League for the first time since 1999-2000.
Captains Jamie Caplan '09, Jesse Adler '10 and Mary Beth Winingham '10 join Scott as key returning starters from last season's squad.
"Our number one goal is to win Ivies," Scott said. "For now, we go into every tournament hoping to be competitive."
Even though the Ivy season doesn't start until the spring, the team is eagerly awaiting its arrival, and under head coach Bob Dallis, the players have been in Hanover practicing since the beginning of September. The fall season is dominated primarily by individual tournaments rather than team competition.
The next upcoming competition for the Big Green women is the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King Tennis Center College Invitational on Wednesday, Oct. 10 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Scott competed in this tournament in 2007 and advanced to the final round.