"The women's team has really improved from last year," head coach Hansi Wiens said. "The season is going really well."
The Mount Holyoke Lyons (6-3) could not secure a win even while utilizing their highest-ranked player freshman Randima Ranaweera who challenged Dartmouth's Valeria Wiens '13 in the number one match. Ranaweera was ranked 25th in the CSA's individual women's pre-season rankings released this December, while Valeria Wiens was ranked fifth. Wiens secured her win against Ranaweera with a score of 11-8, 11-4, 11-9.
Valeria Wiens has had recent success on the courts, defeating third-ranked Yale University's Logan Greer on Saturday in four games.
"We had a really strong showing yesterday against Mount Holyoke," Sarah Loucks '13, who was unable to play on Tuesday due to a medical condition, said. "We last played them in the semifinals of the Kurtz Cup last spring. We beat them 9-0 and placed ninth in the country [while] they placed twelth, and we beat them 9-0 again yesterday."
When Big Green players brought home the win, they dismantled the Lyons' six-game winning streak.
"[Mount Holyoke] is always a fun team to play and [it has] talented players from all around the world," captain Hannah Conant '11 said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
In the number two match, Conant beat junior Shara Robertson 11-1, 11-3, 11-5. Number three player Corey Schafer '13 defeated sophomore Tempest Bowden in all three consecutive games. Seven Big Green players swept their opponents.
In the number four match, Becky Lau '13 rebounded after losing her first game to Mount Holyoke's freshman Shaheen Madraswalla and won 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9.
Dartmouth (4-2, 0-2 Ivy) will face some of its toughest competition in the next month, including matchups against Williams College and Stanford University, Hansi Wiens said.
"Our hard work and training have paid off," Conant said. "Our team is very excited about the next few weeks and we are looking forward to our big matches versus Williams, Cornell and Stanford."
The Big Green has a busy schedule this season, with ten matches scheduled before mid-February. The team will play host to Trinity College on Saturday, and Franklin & Marshall College and Bates College will also travel to Hanover to square off against the Big Green on Sunday. In March, Dartmouth will host the NCAA Individual Championships where Valeria Wiens in expected to be a contender.
"Trinity is strong, but anything is possible," Hansi Wiens said.
Trinity beat the Big Green, 9-0, last season.
Although Dartmouth is ranked eighth in the country, it is ranked the sixth best team in the Ivy League. The upcoming matchups will serve as a benchmark for the team, which hopes to continue to develop as it nears the season stretch.
"I am really proud," Hansi Wiens said. "I want [the team] to have a good time, and the ending is important, but we also want to see improvement along the way."
