Because the victory over Middlebury (10-5) was the third match of the weekend for the Big Green men (6-5, 0-3 Ivy), the lineup saw a few changes Michael Lewis '11 and co-captains Michael Shrubb '10 and Dan Wagman '10 did not play on Sunday evening.
"We sat some of our top players who had already played two matches in the weekend," Wagman said. "It gave some of our other players a chance to get in the match."
The women (3-5, 0-3 Ivy) also made short work of the Panthers (14-3).
"We wanted to come out against Middlebury and not make careless errors," co-captain Elizabeth Weintraub '10 said. "I think we played very well."
The match against Cornell (6-5, 2-4 Ivy) proved much more difficult for the Dartmouth women, however. Despite a 7-2 loss, the players kept the individual matches close and pushed three of their losses to the maximum five games.
Valeria Wiens '13 and Corey Schafer '13 accounted for the two victories.
"Overall, I'm very happy with how the girls played," Weintraub said. "It was not from lack of effort. It's good to see that people are playing good squash right now."
The men also came out empty handed against the Big Red (6-4, 3-3 Ivy), losing 6-3. The loss was an improvement, however, from the 7-2 defeat the men suffered from Cornell earlier in the year at the Ivy League scrimmages in November.
The Big Red gained momentum early by taking a 4-0 lead at the start of the match, and Dartmouth was never able to recover.
"Cornell was stronger [on Saturday]," men's and women's head coach Hansi Wiens said. "We couldn't beat them."
Rochester (6-2) also proved too much for the Big Green, handily defeating the Dartmouth men 7-2.
"The [Yellowjackets] have some really good players, especially at the top," Wagman said.
With a surplus of international players, Rochester possessed an advantage, Wiens added, as the Yellowjackets feature only one American on their squad.
"We knew they were going to be very strong," he said.
Both teams are now looking ahead to upcoming contests against high-ranking competition.
The women will next play Stanford University in a match at Williams College on Saturday.
"Our team has high hopes, and we'll see how that works out," Weintraub said. "People have been training really hard and working really hard, and I think that our work will show in this match."
Perhaps the most important match for the women, however, will be held at Berry Sports Center the following weekend against Princeton University.
Currently ranked No. 9 in the country, the Big Green will need a victory over the No. 7 Tigers (3-1, 2-0 Ivy) to qualify for the national tournament, which only takes the top eight teams.
"[Princeton has] lost some people from last season," Wiens said. "We have a good chance of beating them."
Also on the road this weekend, the men will travel to Bates College on Sunday before heading to Bowdoin College for an afternoon match.
Both opponents are ranked among the top fifteen schools in the nation.
"Bates is really good," Wagman said. "They are ranked two below us, so it should be a tight match."
Like the women, the Dartmouth men are currently on the outside looking in, as they also sit in the No. 9 position one away from a shot at the national title.
Their best chance at remedying this will come on Feb. 7, when the University of Pennsylvania visits the Berry Sports Center. The Quakers (5-4, 1-2 Ivy) come in ranked No. 8 in the nation a Big Green victory is crucial to winning a spot in the top eight.
"If we want to be in the top eight, we need to beat Penn," Wiens said. "We're not supposed to beat them, but I think that our team is very strong at the moment."
