Both the men and women were swept by the Tigers, 9-0, continuing the five-year losing streak against Princeton. The women's team (7-7, 0-5 Ivy) was ranked eighth and Princeton (8-3, 4-3 Ivy) was ranked fifth entering the weekend. On the men's side, Dartmouth (9-6, 1-4 Ivy) was ranked number seven and Princeton (8-1, 5-1 Ivy) was number three.
Last year, Valeria Wiens '13 defeated sophomore Julie Cerullo for the Big Green's only win of the match. This year, however, Cerullo rebounded to beat Wiens.
After dropping the first two games, 4-11, Wiens bounced back to pull out a close 11-9 win in the third. Cerullo then dominated the final game without losing a single point.
Sarah Loucks '13 was the other player who won a game against Princeton. Loucks came out strong, winning the first game, 11-7, and taking her opponent to extra points in the second. She was unable to hold on after that, however, and lost the next three games, 12-14, 6-11 and 5-11.
Coach Hansi Wiens said Princeton proved to be too strong of a team for the Dartmouth players.
"We had no real shot at winning the matches today but the effort was there and the players followed the strategy we prepared," he said.
In the men's team competition, Robbie Maycock '13 and Luke Lee '12 both forced their matches to four games. Maycock took the third game, 11-5, at the fourth position, while Lee squeezed out an 11-9 victory in his third game.
Chris Hanson '13 suffered his fourth loss of the season with a defeat to Todd Harrity. Number nine Alex Kurth '13 played a close match for the Big Green, but succumbed, 8-11, 9-11 and 8-11, to senior Nikhil Seth.
Co-captain Mike Lewis '11 said that despite Princeton's strong play, Dartmouth displayed solid effort.
"The score does not reflect how well we played," he said. "Even though we all lost, it was great preparation for our next matches."
Later that day, the women faced Stanford, currently ranked sixth in the country, and fell to the Cardinal, 1-8.
Valeria Wiens took her opponent to five games to win at the number one position.
"Valeria fought really hard and despite the different style courts she won her match," Hansi Wiens said. "There were a lot of tight matches today and all of the girls proved that they could play two matches in one day."
Captain Hannah Conant '11 said the Big Green recognized how tough the match against the Cardinal would be before the competition stated.
"Stanford has lots of talented players and are a really good team," Conant said. "We had some close matches but they proved to be the better team in the long run. Overall the girls all played well."
The Penn women's team (8-3, 4-2 Ivy) is historically a very strong program and did not give up any matches to the Big Green on Sunday. Penn edged out Princeton, 5-4, earlier this season.
"We clearly belong in the top eight, but there is a clear gap between the top five teams and the top eight teams in what they can handle," Hansi Wiens said. "The women fought hard this weekend but need to still get fitter, tougher and play better. If we push harder and continue to train we will have a chance against these teams in the future."
Despite its losses, the Big Green must focus on its long-term conference goals, according to Conant.
"We have to beat [Brown University] next weekend to stay in the top eight so we are all training really hard and getting excited for that match," Conant said. "After that, we will turn our focus to the Howe Cup. I think we can turn around some of the outcomes from matches we played against earlier this season and it will be an exciting weekend."
The Big Green men turned their game around to beat tenth-ranked Penn, 6-3, in Philadelphia on Sunday.
Many of the matches were close, and Chris Jung '14 and Lewis both fought to win their matches in five games.
"Winning in five games is great because it feels especially good to win the close ones," Lewis said. "Penn is a really good team with some great players but we really stepped up like we needed to."
In practice, the men's team is now concentrating on the season stretch, according to Lewis.
"I am proud of the guys and the great season we have had so far," he said. "We are starting to prepare for [the College Squash Association Championships] now as that is the pinnacle of our season. Our hard work shows and we are all determined to have a really strong finish to the season."
Co-captain Ted Schroeder '11 said the team came out particularly strong against the Quakers.
"Penn is a really talented team so this was a big test for us," Schroeder said. "We took this opportunity to prove ourselves. It was the last big match of the year and a good time to use all of our training. The win was important to help keep our ranking."
Hansi Wiens said it was important for the Big Green to win in order to maintain its national stature.
"We fought [Penn] down, won two five-gamers, and showed everyone why we are number seven in the country and looking upwards," he said. "Penn would have had to win against us to make it into the top eight."
The men and women will travel to play Middlebury College next Saturday before returning for an evening matchup in Hanover against Brown University their last of the regular season.
