The men's team (8-9, 0-1 Ivy) dropped its first Ivy League match to Cornell, 5-2, but doubles play was exceedingly close.
Xander Centenari '13 and Brandon DeBot '14 took their match at No. 1 doubles, 8-2, but Cornell won 9-7 matches at both No. 2 and No. 3 to take the doubles point.
"We actually had a match point at No. 3, but we ended up losing that point and that cost us the doubles point," Justin Chan '16 said.
Singles saw a lot of close straight set matches, but only Centenari and Brendan Tannenbaum '16 were able to come off the court with wins.
"All the matches were back and forth, and there were a lot of 6-4 or 7-5 sets," Chan said. "We had a chance to come back if we could force thirds on some courts, but unfortunately it didn't happen. Cornell made plays and we didn't make any huge mistakes, so we weren't really disappointed by the loss."
On Sunday, the Big Green squared off against Columbia (11-6, 1-1 Ivy). The doubles were once again very close. Dartmouth won at No. 2 and fell shortly after at No. 3, leaving the deciding match up to DeBot and Centenari at No. 1.
The No. 1 doubles match was dead even as both teams refused to give up any chances. The match went into a tiebreaker, and Dartmouth came out on top 9-8 (7-5). Centenari sealed the deal with a second serve that was too strong for his opponent to return, giving Dartmouth the advantage heading into singles.
Singles play proved just as tight as the doubles, as Dartmouth dropped three of the five opening sets before winning the three singles matches to seal the day.
Cameron Ghorbani '14 had a great day and was the first one off in singles, giving Dartmouth a 2-0 advantage in the match. However, the next two points went in favor of the Lions, as Erik Nordahl '16 and Centenari both walked off with losses.
DeBot had a huge win in his singles match. After quickly losing his first set 6-1, he fought from behind for the majority of the second set and was able to force a tiebreaker, which he won. Having gained all the momentum, DeBot slammed the door on his opponent, taking the third set 6-0.
At No. 2, Chris Kipouras '15 played a match filled with equal amounts of drama. He won the first, dropped the second, and gutted out a close third set victory. The three set wins from DeBot and Kipouras clinched the match for the Big Green at 4-2.
The women's tennis team dropped its first Ivy League match of the season 4-3 to Cornell University on Friday. The doubles point proved to be the difference, as the two teams split the singles matches.
Playing in their first match since spring break, the Big Green women (7-6, 0-2 Ivy) got off to a slow start, dropping the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to give Cornell (12-2, 1-2) the doubles point. At No. 2, Sarah Bessen '16 and Melissa Matsuoka '14 had the match tied at 7-all when the doubles point was clinched.
"I think we had a little trouble getting off to a good start, and they showed up ready to go from the first point" Bessen said. "In my match, we were down 3-0 and 6-3 before we were able to fight back to seven-all."
Plagued by an injury that forced her out of doubles play, Janet Liu '15 fell to Cornell's Ryann Young 6-0, 6-1. Shortly after, Akiko Okuda '15 came off the court with a 6-0, 6-2 loss at No. 4, giving Cornell the first three points of the match and a 3-0 advantage.
"Janet is suffering with elbow tendinitis right now, and has been in a removable cast for the last couple weeks," Bessen said. "She hadn't even played for about a week before Cornell."
Katherine Yau '16 delivered a straight sets victory at No. 3 in an attempt to get Dartmouth back into the match, but Sarah Leonard '13 fell 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 to give Cornell the fourth and clinching point.
"The Cornell players were really energetic and clearly there to win," Bessen said. "It was a little bit disappointing because if we had won the doubles point, the match would have been ours."
After the match had been decided, Matsuoka and Bessen rounded out the day with two straight set wins.
On Saturday, the Big Green women fell 7-0 to Columbia (10-4, 3-0 Ivy), who has yet to lose at home this year. Leonard and Liu, the one and two seeds respectively, were both unable to play due to injury, forcing the entire lineup to play up two spots.
The Lions took the doubles point with an 8-0 win at No. 2 and an 8-3 win at No. 3. Yau and Okuda were locked in a tight match at No. 1 against Bianca Sanon and Kanika Vaidya, the 38th ranked doubles team in the nation. When the doubles point was clinched, Yau and Okuda were down 6-5.
"Columbia is strong this year, and they have a really tough doubles lineup," Yau said. "A ton of their fans showed up to the match, so it was a tough environment to play in. They did a really good job supporting each other on the court and they impressed us in that aspect."
The Big Green had no answer for Columbia in singles, dropping every match. Bessen was the lone member of the Dartmouth team to win a set on Saturday. The men and women hit the road this weekend, taking on the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday and Princeton University on Sunday.
