It was a weekend of mixed success on the courts of New England for the Big Green men's and women's tennis teams. While the men dominated their two opponents, the women fought valiantly into the semi-finals of a tournament in Connecticut. The future looks bright for both programs, and as they continue to work through the fall and winter, hopes for the spring season will only become higher.
In New Haven, at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Eastern Regionals, the Dartmouth women knew that they had to make it to the final round in order to advance to the next ITA tournament later this month.
They almost made it.
Playing first against Rutgers, the Big Green came away with a 5-4 win -- without their captain, number-one singles and doubles player Cathy Birkeland '94. In the ninth and deciding match of the day, Kelly Olsen '97, playing in her first collegiate match, beat Christina Thayer of Rutgers in three sets.
"Kelly really showed a lot of mental toughness," Coach Chris Kerr said. With the pressure on and the members of each team lining the court, Olsen came back from losing the second set to winning the third, 6-0.
Against Boston University there would be no final match dramatics. Dartmouth was shut out, 9-0, though play was a lot more even than the final score may indicate.
"We lost two three-setters, and one match 7-5, 7-5," Kerr said. "Five of the nine were close matches."
The women's tennis team was young to begin with, and by adding a terrific group of '97s, the Big Green should continue to improve.
"When you have a lot of new people it takes time. I think that they're going to develop fine," Kerr said.
The women head to Brown this weekend where they will have an opportunity to face some teams from the mid-west and other regions, and they host Boston College Oct. 19.
The future appears to be now for the men's tennis team. In a three-way tie for the number one spot in the East with Harvard and Yale, the men are sitting pretty atop one the strongest divisions in the nation. The Big Green certainly showed their strength this past Saturday when they hosted the University of Vermont and Boston University.
Of the 18 matches in total played on Saturday, the men won all 18. Against Vermont, they did not lose a set.
"We played pretty well," Coach Chuck Kinyon said.
Captain and number-one singles player Dan Coakley '94 led the way for Dartmouth, while number-two player Holden Spaht '96 and number-three player Jim Rich '96 followed suit.
Kinyon also cited the play of his doubles teams as providing a big lift going into the singles matches. And, he said, "doubles are going to be very important this weekend."
This weekend the men travel to Princeton for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Fall Team Championships, with the winners of this tournament advancing to the National Indoor Championships.
"We hope that we'll have no more injuries and we'll be set to go," Kinyon said.
