After leading Dartmouth to an improbable 4-3 defeat of top-ranked Columbia last week at the NCAA Region I Men's Tennis Tournament, Dan Coakley '94 picked up another honor for his war chest on Tuesday.
In a tight vote, Coakley was named this year's Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association Player of the Year. He was also honored as the Association's Senior of the Year and garnered All-EITA status for the second season in a row.
"Being named Player of the Year is an incredibly special achievement," Coach Chuck Kinyon said. "But I wasn't surprised of Dan's selection. He worked hard for it throughout the year and he earned it."
Coakley's hard work sure paid off. He posted a 7-2 record in the conference, playing first singles for the duration of the season.
Dartmouth squeaked into this year's tournament with the help of West Virginia being ruled ineligible for competition. Seeded fourth and facing the first-seeded Columbia Lions in the semifinals, the Big Green pulled off a minor miracle, winning two out of three doubles matches and taking three of six singles contests.
The tandem of Coakley and Jim Rich '96 won 8-6 at second doubles. Coakley dropped a hard-fought thriller at his customary first singles slot. Mike Beckett defeated Coakley in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. The match proved for not, though, as the Big Green looked forward to the winner of the Princeton-Harvard semifinal.
Princeton beat the Crimson to set up the final between the third and fourth-seeded teams in the tournament. In the finals, Coakley cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 straight set win over the Tigers number one, Andy Weiss.
But Coakley was not the focal point of this battle. Princeton narrowly defeated the Big Green, 4-3, on a crucial win at second singles. Before a crowd of 400 onlookers, Reed Cornish narrowly defeated a gutsy Rich, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. Princeton moves on to the NCAA finals, held at Notre Dame this weekend.
So ended an up and down season for the Big Green. "It is difficult to follow a year of such great success," Kinyon said, referring to Dartmouth's Ivy League Championship last year. "We lost two key players and faced a lot of adversity this year, but it was very special to finish so strong."
At his second year playing first singles, Coakley piloted a team that pulled it together when it needed to -- at the end.
With this most recent honor in his back pocket, Coakley will look to make a dream a reality this July when he enters his first professional satellite tournament. More immediately, Coakley will compete at the individual NCAA championships this weekend, also at Notre Dame. "The NCAAs were one of Dan's personal goals for the season," Kinyon said. "He worked hard for it and he deserves the honor [of playing]."
