Fifteen groups of four teams competed in the tournament at various campus sites, including at Clemson University, where Dartmouth (1-2) played in a bracket with tenth-ranked Clemson, 26th-ranked Vanderbilt University and 53rd-ranked Marshall University. Dartmouth is currently ranked 61st.
The Big Green fell, 7-0, to Clemson (7-0) on Saturday and 6-0 to Marshall (5-1) on Sunday.
In the match against Clemson, Molly Scott '11 who is individually ranked 94th in the nation lost, 6-1, 6-4, to 12th-ranked junior Josipa Bek.
Melissa Matsuoka '14 also fell to a nationally ranked opponent, losing 6-2, 6-0 to 48th-ranked junior Keri Wong.
Marshall senior Michaela Kissel, who is ranked 27th in the nation, defeated Scott, 6-1, 4-6 and 7-6. Matsuoka lost to Marshall sophomore Dominika Zapranza, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.
Scott and Matsuoka also competed together in the doubles competition, playing against Bek and Wong who are ranked second as a doubles pair and Marshall's 63rd-ranked doubles team of Kissel and Zapranza.
Matsuoka said the Dartmouth pair played its competition close, despite not being able to pull off a victory.
"We both know that we could stick with the best doubles teams in the country," she said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
The Tigers beat all of their Dartmouth competition in both singles and doubles in straight sets. In the match against Marshall, Scott and Matsuoka both took their singles opponents to three sets.
Although Clemson is one of the highest ranked teams that Dartmouth will face all season, the team's prominence did not intimidate the Big Green. Head coach Bob Dallis said that the team prepared for the match as it would any other.
"Our goals going into every match are very similar," Dallis said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth. "We want to attempt to compete as hard as possible for each point. The only way you can win a match is to be ready to give your best effort mentally and physically for each point."
Ryan Reichel '11 said that the Big Green showed good effort in its matches, despite its lack of success.
"We certainly did not expect to come down here and lose both of our matches, but we did expect to play some great players and have tough matchers where we fought and competed hard," she said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
Although Matsuoka said she was not expecting to come away from the weekend with two losses, she believes that the team will utilize them as a learning experience as the season progresses.
Dallis and Matsuoka both said the team could have played better physically. The team hopes to improve in the winter season, before it plays the bulk of its Ivy League matches in the spring, according to Reichel.
"We are going to play one match at a time and not give our opponents any free points," Matsuoka said. "We want to compete hard and hope to win the [Ivies]."
Dartmouth will next play at Boston University in Boston, Mass., on Feb. 9.
