Dartmouth, however, capitalized on the frustration of Friday's match to crush Columbia (4-11, 0-3 Ivy) in a match that lasted less than three hours.
After spending spring break competing in California, co-captain Jesse Adler '10 said that the team felt prepared both mentally and physically for the weekend.
"We spend most of our season talking about [the first Ivy matches], and then we hit April, and there they are," she said.
Molly Scott '11 and co-captain Mary Beth Winingham '10 won both of their matches at the No. 1 doubles spot. Scott, Adler and Georgiana Smyser '11 were all undefeated in the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 singles spots, respectively.
Adler described the 4-3 loss to Cornell as a "heartbreaker."
Scott and Winingham easily defeated their opponents 8-1 at No. 1 doubles, but Dartmouth narrowly lost the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches.
Adler and Carissa King '12 lost 9-7, while Julia Zak '10 and Smyser fell in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (5). Scott and Adler won their No. 1 and No. 3 singles matches in straight sets, and Smyser recovered from a 4-6 first set to win at No. 4.
These efforts, however, were not enough to give Dartmouth the win.
"Cornell played better than us on that day, but in general is a team that we should beat," Winingham said.
The Big Green returned to the court the next day to hand Columbia a speedy 6-1 loss. Dartmouth won two of the three doubles matches in order to secure the doubles point. Zak and Smyser recovered from their loss the previous day to win 8-4 at the No. 3 doubles spot, while Scott, Winingham, Smyser and Ryan Reichel '11 all won their singles matches in straight sets.
At the No. 3 spot, Adler split her first two sets before winning in a 10-8 third-set superbreaker.
"It's always good to be able to contribute with a win," she said.
Both Winingham and Adler said that nerves contributed to Friday's loss.
"It's hard not to put too much pressure on yourself," Winingham said.
As the weekend progressed, she said, the players were able to relax and put the loss to Cornell behind them.
"Going out and just annihilating Columbia just shows that we can bounce back," she said.
Adler said that winning the doubles point will be crucial for the team in its five remaining conference matches.
"Winning the doubles point would have turned the Cornell match around," she said. "It's something we've been working on all year and something we will continue to work on."
Winingham added that the team needs to practice maintaining its focus during close matches.
The Big Green returns to the home court this weekend with two more Ivy League matches. Dartmouth will face off against the University of Pennsylvania on Friday at 3 p.m. and Princeton at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
