Peyton Capuano ’27 has been a constant at the top of the lineup for the Dartmouth women’s tennis team since her freshman year. Playing primarily at No. 1 singles and doubles, she has become one of the Ivy League’s most consistent and dominant competitors. This season, Capuano went 13-4 in singles play and 15-5 in doubles alongside partner Michela Moore ’27, helping lead the Big Green to multiple victories while continuing to build a decorated career that includes multiple All-Ivy honors and, most recently, being named the 2026 Ivy League Player of the Year.
The Ivy League Player of the Year is typically awarded to the player with the strongest singles record in conference play, often from one of the top positions, and is determined by a voting panel. Doubles performance and overall team success are also considered in the decision. In each of Capuano’s previous seasons, she earned All-Ivy recognition. She also surpassed a hundred career wins this season and, alongside Moore, reached 50 career doubles wins.
Capuano sat down with The Dartmouth to discuss her success, her goals for next season and how she balances mental and physical aspects of the game.
How long have you been playing tennis?
PC: I started playing tennis when I was six years old because I joined in on my brother’s lessons, but it didn’t really get serious until about eight or nine years old, when I started playing in tournaments.
Why did you choose Dartmouth?
PC: When I was making college choices, I had specific goals. First, I wanted to be in the lineup at a school where I wouldn’t have to be fighting to do so. The biggest thing I wanted was a healthy team and coaching environment. When I was going through recruiting, I heard a lot of good things about the Dartmouth coach, Bob Dallis. For example, when I verbally committed to Dartmouth and had my visit here, it was awesome. It was such a great environment. Bob had the whole team over to his house and cooked dinner for them. It felt very wholesome, and it honestly seemed like everyone was good friends with each other. And then, I wanted to go to the highest academic school I could. Dartmouth checked all those boxes for me.
How would you describe your overall experience here as a student athlete?
PC: It’s been amazing. I love my team and my coaches, and I love being at Dartmouth. It is very stressful, managing both academics and sports, since I’m playing two to three hours of tennis every evening after class and have to choose my class schedule based on practice times. My coach is very accommodating. If there’s a mandatory class that is during practice, for example, he’ll move things around for you and help you out.
What’s the team culture like?
PC: I would say I’m pretty lucky to be on this team. Everyone gets along so well, and I’m best friends with the two other girls in my grade on the team, Caroline Lemcke ’27 and Michela Moore. It’s such a healthy environment. I love and feel incredibly supported by my coaches, and I see a lot of the girls on my team as my best friends for life.
What is the most challenging thing about tennis?
PC: The most challenging thing is the mental aspect. I’ve been advocating for this for a while. I wouldn’t say mental health in sports is as overlooked now, but it has been for the longest time. People don’t understand how important it is and how much it’ll affect not only your game on court, but also life after it. A lot of people struggle with identity crises in basing themselves off of wins and losses. I’ve personally been working on my mental health and strength since my junior year of high school.
During the COVID-19 quarantine, I didn’t play a tournament for four months, which is the longest I hadn’t played a tournament since I was nine. I forgot how to compete and how to deal with expectations, and how to not let that make me crumble as a person. Reminding yourself that not everything is riding on wins or losses and you are more than just your sport is probably the most challenging part. Plus, there are also other nitpicky in-match struggles, like nerves and strategy.
What does it mean to you to be named Ivy League Player of the Year?
PC: It’s honestly an accomplishment I never thought I’d get. My freshman year, we had a volunteer coach Taylor Ng ’17, who was a Dartmouth women’s tennis alum. I’ve personally idolized her. She had great records for the team, she was such a leader and she’s so kind and strong. She won Ivy League Player of the Year, and as a result, it’s always kind of been a goal of mine in the back of my mind. I didn’t really think it would actually happen, so it’s such a privilege to have won it.
I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my coaches, Bob Dallis and Valeria Nikolaev. Bob helped me mentally prepare before matches, and Valeria was on the court with me most of the time. She was there to calm me down, regroup me and shift plans if things weren’t working. I also had the team cheering for me on the side, supporting me and pushing me through it. I had about two to three unfinished matches that were real fights and could have gone either way, but I managed to push through because of the whole team and the coaches. So, it’s honestly a super exciting goal that I’m honored to have.
What are your goals for your senior season?
PC: I think my goals are always pretty similar each year: I want to make the new freshmen feel welcome, and I want to be as good of a leader and role model as I can be while still being myself. I would also love to place the goals of making first team All-Ivy, at least in singles and hopefully in doubles next year, but you can’t really expect good play, so we’ll see what happens. We will prepare for good play, but if it doesn’t happen in the moment, it doesn’t happen. I’m also very excited to see how the team does. Our freshmen this year did a great job, and I’m excited to see the incoming freshmen and how they mix with the team. We had a really good season this year. We’re almost at the next level, and it’ll be cool to see what we can achieve next season.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Gabriella Messina ’27 is a sports writer. She is from Rye, N.Y. and is majoring in Engineering and minoring in French. On campus, Gabriella is on the club lacrosse and taekwondo teams. She is also a member of the 2027 class council.
