On Friday, the women's tennis team (8-9, 1-5 Ivy) fell 5-2 (16-3, 5-1) to Yale. The Big Green had a chance to take the doubles point, winning at No. 1 and losing a tight match at No. 3, but were unable to snag it.
"I felt like our team was equally talented and we definitely had our chances," Suzy Tan '16 said. "If we had taken that doubles point, we would have been in a much better position to split the singles and win the match."
Tan and Katherine Yau '16 brought the Big Green their only wins of the day, both in straight sets, while Akiko Okuda '15 dropped a three-set match.
Yau continued her recent streak of hot play with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Yale captain Elizabeth Epstein, currently ranked 67th in the nation.
"Kat crushed in the second set," Tan said. "With a couple of our top players out with injuries, Kat has really risen to the occasion and has been playing extremely strong for us."
On Sunday, the women lost a heartbreaker to Brown 4-3 in their last home match of the season. Doubles play was decided by tiebreakers at No. 1 and No. 3, and the Big Green women came out on bottom in both.
"The doubles point was ours for the taking, but we couldn't capitalize on the opportunities we had," Yau said. "We lost two matches 9-8, but if we executed to our potential, the matches wouldn't have even been that close."
Playing in the final home match of her career, Christina Danosi '13 delivered a lights-out performance at No. 6, dominating her opponent 6-2, 6-0 to tie the match score at 1-all.
"It's really awesome that Christina was able to end her home career with such a dominant performance," Yau said.
Okuda quickly lost the first set 6-0 to a tough opponent. She was able to find her game early in the second and jumped out to a commanding 4-1 lead. However, Brown's No. 2 would not go away and she battled back to take that set and the match in a tiebreaker, putting Brown up 2-1.
Melissa Matsuoka '14 cruised in a straight sets victory at No. 2, and Yau extended her impressive win streak to three at No. 1, taking her match 7-5, 6-2. Dartmouth had jumped to a 3-2 lead, needing one win between courts four and five.
Ultimately, the Big Green was unable to score a victory on either court. Sarah Bessen '16 fell in straight sets at No. 5 and Tan fell in a tough three-set encounter at No. 4, against an aggressive base-liner who seemed incapable of missing.
"It all came down to failure to execute in doubles," Yau said. "Every court fought and competed well in singles."
On Friday, the Dartmouth men's tennis team (9-13, 1-5 Ivy) lost 5-2 to Yale (17-6, 3-3 Ivy). The Bulldogs took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3. Xander Centenari '13 and Brandon DeBot '14 maintained their recent high level of doubles play, winning 8-3 at the No. 1 position.
Yale swept the top four singles matches to give them five points and the victory, but Dartmouth rolled at No. 5 and No. 6. DeBot won his match 6-2, 6-3, and Justin Chan '16, playing in his first Ivy League singles match, won 6-0, 6-3.
"Xander and DeBot had a really good win against a doubles team that's ranked top-16 in the country," Justin Chan '16 said.
On Sunday, the men lost 4-3 to Brown (13-9, 2-3 Ivy). The men were unable to split singles after grabbing the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2.
Once again, the men dropped the top four singles matches but took the bottom two. Brown wins at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 gave the Bears the edge in the match, 3-1. Cameron Ghorbani '14 was locked in a tight three-set match but ultimately fell, giving Brown the deciding fourth point.
"We did well to win the doubles point, but we didn't play with enough intensity in singles," Chan said.
Even though Brown had clinched the match, Chan and Debot continued to battle. Both came out on top in third set super tiebreakers.
"If we played at our potential we definitely should have won," Chan said.
The men's and women's teams will travel to Harvard University next Saturday to play in their last matches of the regular season.
