The women’s tennis team defeated United States Military Academy at the Alexis Boss Tennis Center in Hanover, N.H. on Jan. 17 to start off the year. Dartmouth ended with 5 points and Army with 2.
“Our first match, it was nice to come out strong in our first home match,” Valentina Cruz ’26 said. “It was really nice to get the win.”
Head coach Bob Dallis agreed and emphasized the importance of getting back into the game after a long break.
“There’s certain things that were a little ragged and certain mistakes that would show up,” Dallis said. “And that’s okay.”
Since 2006, the two teams have faced off six times, with Dartmouth holding a 6-0 record. In the 2024-25 season, the Big Green were ranked eighth in the Ivy League, while Army topped the Patriot League that season.
At doubles, Dartmouth won two out of the three matches. They dropped first doubles in a tiebreaker, but won second and third doubles, 6-1 and 6-2, respectively.
Peyton Capuano ’27 and Michela Moore ’27, who have been paired together since their freshman year, lost a tough match to Army’s Stacey Samonte and Madison Smith.
“It was nice to finally get back on the court with her after being abroad [in London],” Moore said. “Just working through some kinks a bit, rusty in the doubles, we had lots of opportunities and just couldn’t quite convert, so it was a bit tough.”
First doubles was a battle from start to finish. Down 5-6, Army was up 40-0 before dropping two game points. However, Army managed to close out the game and force a decisive tiebreaker.
“I think we made a couple of missed opportunities, [missed] some deuce points and missed a couple of returns,” Moore reflected. “The same in the tiebreak.”
The tiebreaker was equally thrilling, with Dartmouth initially taking a 4-2 lead before Army caught up at 5-5. All tied up, Army took the lead with a well-placed winner to earn a match point. Dartmouth saved the first match point, and then saved a second down 7-6. However, consecutive Big Green errors gave Army the 9-7 win.
Despite Army’s first doubles win, the result was trivial. The winner of the majority of the three doubles matches earns one point, and Dartmouth took home second and third doubles.
Despite the doubles loss, Moore quickly reset herself and won her singles match, winning 6-3, 6-2.
“I can’t change the result of the doubles match,” Moore said. “We’ve talked a lot as a team about staying present and focusing on the next point. Just put that match behind me and focus on doing my best for the team to get a singles point.”
Dartmouth breezed through four of the six singles matches, dropping the other two. Sam Grosjean ’28 easily won her match 6-1, 6-1, coached by Cruz. While Cruz did not play any matches, she enjoyed helping her team.
“I was really excited to see everyone back and competing,” Cruz said. “We’ve been working hard the last two weeks since we got back to school … and see all the things that we’ve been working on practice apply.”
Dallis is excited for the team to play against such strong opponents.
“You need good opponents to bring out the best in you.” said Dallis. “We want to bring out the best and that’s the only way those muscles get exercise.”
The team will face Boston College at home on Friday Jan. 23. Dartmouth currently holds an all-time 7-12 record against Boston College, winning just one of the last three.
