The Big Green men (4-6, 0-0 Ivy) came into Sunday on a three-game skid after a rough weekend at the ECAC championships in Ithaca, N.Y.
"It hasn't been an ideal start to our season, but I think we've been doing a lot of the right things in practice," Brandon DeBot '14 said.
The men got off to a slow start, dropping one and three doubles to give St. John's (0-7, 0-1 Big East) the doubles point and the early advantage.
"Coach was telling us about working through the bad times," Chris Kipouras '15 said. "Basically we always have the mindset that when we go out there we want to play a tough three doubles and tough six singles, and as long as we're competing at every spot we can't really complain about the result."
Needing four singles victories to win the match, the Big Green men got off to a strong start winning the first singles set on four separate courts.
Brendan Tannenbaum '16 was the first to come off the court, taking his match 6-3, 6-0 to tie the match score at 1-all.
Cameron Ghorbani '14 followed suit with a 6-1, 6-3 victory, and Kipouras did his part to give Dartmouth the 3-1 lead, needing only one more match to win.
St. John's began to mount a comeback, as senior Vasko Mladenov beat Xander Centenari '13 at No. 1 singles in straight sets to put the score at 3-2 Dartmouth.
Erik Nordahl '16 and DeBot were the last Dartmouth players on court, and both of their matches went into deciding third sets.
"I think at this point if you're Erik or Brandon you obviously can tell that the match isn't over and that there's only one other person out there," Kipouras said. "You kind of just have to stay focused on your court and worry about who you're playing against and not things you can't control."
After dominating his first set 6-2, Nordahl encountered more resistance from St. John sophomore Mark Mozer, who went on to win the next two sets, 6-4, 6-2, tying the match at 3-all.
DeBot, the last man standing, played the tightest match of the day. His first two sets were decided by tiebreakers, and he held set points in both.
"As a general rule, the other guys and I try to focus mainly on our own court, but at the same time, especially now that we have a great new scoreboard, we can tell exactly what's going on the whole time," DeBot said. "I was definitely aware of the state of the match as I was playing."
After the tightness of his first two sets 6-7 (10-8) and 7-6 (7-5), DeBot changed his game plan in order to shut the door on St. John's, emphatically winning the deciding set of the match 6-2.
"I made a couple strategic changes that my coach suggested after the end of the second to pull out better, mainly serving and volleying more because of my matchup," DeBot said.
The women's tennis team extended its hot streak in a cold winter season. The weekend marked the end of winter play for the women (6-1, 0-0 Ivy), as they prepare for the spring season and Ivy play.
"I think it's really important to have early success because the winter is the first time we play dual matches," captain Sarah Leonard '13 said. "We were all a little disappointed when ECAC got canceled, but we picked up where we left off against UMass and I think the precedent we set in the winter is what will be reflected in our spring break and Ivy League play."
The Big Green women started off the day by defeating Fordham (2-3) 6-1.
Katherine Yau '16 and Akiko Okuda '15 led the way at No. 1 doubles, winning 8-5. Melissa Matsuoka '14 and Sarah Bessen '16 won at No. 2, 8-4, and Julienne Keong '16 and Janet Liu '15 finished up at No. 3 with an 8-5 victory.
In singles, the women continued to take care of business. Liu, who has yet to drop a set this season, continued her run from Saturday, defeating Fordham No. 1 senior Amy Simidian, 6-4, 6-2.
At No. 2 singles, Yau double-bageled her opponent, and Okuda faced only a little more resistance at No. 3, winning 6-1, 6-2. At No. 5, Bessen had a similarly dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory.
Matsuoka won a close two-set match against Fordham's number four, claiming the match in a second set tiebreaker.
Suzy Tan '16, playing No. 6 singles, dropped the lone match of the day in a hard fought three-set contest against Fordham sophomore Anika Novacek. After losing the first set 6-3, Tan fought back to win the second set 6-3 and even the match at one set-all.
Since the Big Green had already clinched the match, Tan and Novacek played a super tiebreaker in place of the third set. Despite going into the tiebreaker with the momentum, Tan went down 3-9, giving Novacek six match points to work with. Tan was able to fight her way back to nine all before ultimately falling, 11-9.
"The third set tiebreak was awesome because Suzy saved a handful of match points, and it was really exciting to see her mini comeback," Leonard said. "In the end she wasn't able to win the match, but she competed really well and showed a lot of fight."
After a convincing morning victory, the Big Green women blanked Albany (2-4) later that afternoon.
Head coach Robert Dallis changed the lineup a bit, notably placing Bessen at No. 1 doubles with Okuda instead of the usual Okuda-Yau tandem, a doubles duo formed in junior tournaments before either player came to Dartmouth.
The women dominated doubles play and never gave Albany a chance in singles, winning every set. Dartmouth won a total of 72 games in singles, while Albany walked away with only 19. Yau dropped only three singles games the entire day.
"Kat dominated this weekend, and it's harder than it seems to beat opponents that easily because it's really easy to lose focus in a couple games," Leonard said.
Having struggled with a shoulder injury since freshman year, Leonard made the second start of her senior season, replacing Liu at No. 1 singles and dominating Albany's Rocio Lopez 6-2, 6-1.
The wins for the men and the women give both teams momentum as they head into the spring season and all-important Ivy League play.
