Of the five Dartmouth players competing in the weekend action, Ashley Mitchell '11 and Molly Scott '11 provided some bright spots in the team's effort. Mitchell lost in the semifinal match in the seventh flight while Scott came back from an opening-match loss to win her next two games in the first flight.
Despite the team's struggles in both singles and doubles play, Scott felt that the Big Green picked up its level of play after a disappointing first day of competition.
"We all became more comfortable with the environment, and it took us a while to get warmed up and focus," she said. "After not having the best results on Saturday, we were hungry to do well."
Mitchell won her two singles matches yet was unable to convert critical second-set points in a semifinal defeat Sunday to Emily Ellis of Brown University, 4-6, 5-7.
Mitchell dominated her first two matches in the opening stages of the flight on Saturday. She recorded straight-set victories over Jessica DeCarolos of Fairleigh Dickinson University, 6-3, 6-4 and Morgan Ivey of Rutgers University, 6-4, 6-2.
Last season, Mitchell posted an impressive 7-1 record in singles during non-conference and Ivy League team competition.
Scott suffered a tough first-match loss, 1-6, 0-6, to third-seeded Bianca Aboubakare of Brown University on Saturday to start off flight play. Aboubakare defeated Scott last year during the Ivy season, 3-6, 6-2, 1-6, in the Big Green's 4-3 win over the Bears.
Scott then regrouped and won her next two matches in the first-flight back-draw.
Aboubakare advanced to beat Janet Kim of Yale University, the reigning Ivy League player of the year. Aboubakare eventually lost to second-seeded Lana Krasnopolsky of Boston College in the top-flight final, 6-4, 6-2, on Monday.
After her initial loss Saturday, Scott came back to defeat Emilee Malvehy of Wake Forest, 6-3, 6-2, later in the day.
On Sunday, Scott won her last singles match against Michelle Sammoms of Purdue in dramatic fashion, 4-6, 7-6, 10-8. After losing the first set, Scott won a crucial tiebreaker, battling back from a 3-5 deficit in the second set.
"After winning that set, I kind of gained the momentum back," Scott said.
She faced another tiebreaker to decide the third set.
"It was close, but I thought I had the momentum, and I ended up pulling it out," Scott said.
Dartmouth's other competitors did not fare as well this weekend.
Georgiana Smyser '11 lost her first game in the second flight to the second-seeded Lynne Poggensee-Wei of the University of Iowa, 1-6, 3-6, before withdrawing from the tournament due to illness.
Both Ryan Reichel '11 in the third flight and Shelley Carpeni '12 in the fourth flight lost all three of their matches. On Sunday, Cornell University's Liz Googe downed Reichel, 6-2, 7-5, while Carpeni lost an evenly matched contest, 6-7, 4-6, to Carling Donovan of Columbia University.
Carissa King '12, placed in the fifth flight, was unable to play due to illness.
The Big Green doubles teams fared only slightly better than their singles counterparts. After losing two matches in the doubles draw, Scott and Carpeni were finally victorious Sunday in the second consolation bracket in the first doubles draw in an 8-5 win over Elizaveta Zaytseva and Paty Coimbra of Winthrop University.
Reichel and Mitchell's doubles team went 0-2 in the third doubles flight.
Illness and injury plagued the Big Green throughout the tournament.
"One of our captains [Jamie Caplan '09] and two girls ended up getting sick," Mitchell said. "We were able to get past it, but we like being able to go out in full force."
The tournament consists of eight flights, with players assigned to flights based on regional ranking. There are 16 players per flight, and each flight has its own championship game played on Monday.
All competitors are guaranteed three matches in both a singles and doubles bracket over the two days. The entrants start out in the main draw of play but move to the consolation back draws if they lose a match.
Mitchell was the only Big Green member to remain in the main draw after the first round of play, and she stayed in the main draw throughout all three matches of the singles tournament.
"It boosted my confidence," she said. "Once you get through one match, you get to relax and the nerves go away."
This is the first time Dartmouth's women's tennis team has played together since the Maryland Invitational in late September. Scott also played individually in the Riviera-Intercolleigate Tennis Association Women's All-American Championship at Pepperdine University the weekend of Saturday, Sept. 27 in Malibu, Calif.
The Big Green players recognize they still have work to do before the Ivy season starts in the spring.
"We always come away from a weekend wanting to do better and looking to improve," Scott said. "We use the fall season as a time to work on things. We plan to peak during the spring."
Select members of the Big Green squad, to be picked Thursday, will be competing in an Intercollegiate Tennis Association East Regional tournament at the University of Pennsylvania beginning Friday, Oct. 24 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Dartmouth will also host the Big Green Invitational from Friday, Nov. 7 to Sunday, Nov. 9 in Hanover.
