The women's tennis team (10-11, 2-5 Ivy League) concluded its season by splitting two league matches last weekend, dropping a one-sided contest with 35th-ranked Harvard University on Friday before rallying to take a close match from Dartmouth College on Sunday.
Harvard, which clinched the Ivy League title later in the weekend with a win over Yale University, had no trouble with the Bears. The Crimson swept all six singles matches without dropping a set and took all three doubles contests.
The strong Harvard lineup boasts two nationally ranked singles players and one ranked doubles team, some of the toughest competition the Bears faced all year. In the No. 1 singles slot, 38th-ranked Courtney Bergman rolled over Alexandra Arlak '05 in a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Kerry Meath '05 kept the first set of her No. 2 singles match close before losing to 109th-ranked Susanna Lingman, 6-4, 6-2.
At No. 1 doubles, the 23rd-ranked doubles team of Bergman and Lingman teamed up to beat Arlak and Meath, 8-3.
"Harvard's high level of competition was as expected," said Head Coach Norma Taylor. No team in the Ivy League has managed to take more than two points from the Crimson this year, according to Taylor.
"At the current time, Brown is not competing at this level, nor is anyone else in the Ivies," she said.
Sunday's hard-fought win over Dartmouth provided an uplifting end to the Bears' injury-plagued season. Captain Victoria Beck '04 provided crucial wins at both doubles and singles, and the team's first-years also pulled through with significant contributions.
The Bears began the match by clinching the doubles point, as the No. 2 team of Beck and Michelle Pautler '07 pulled out a solid 8-5 victory, followed by a close 8-6 win at No. 3 from Amanda Saiontz '07 and Daisy Ames '07. Arlak and Meath lost a tough No. 1 match in a tiebreaker.
In singles, the Bears dropped the No. 1 and 2 singles matches, but they rallied to take three of the bottom four slots.
Beck recovered after losing a tight first set to defeat Lindsay Winingham in her final match for Brown by a score of 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Saiontz completed a consistently impressive first year with a dominating 6-1, 6-2 victory over Sarah McNally. Pautler came from behind after a one-sided first set to take the No. 6 slot, beating Ann Scott by a score of 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Arlak dropped her No. 1 match to Jayme Ahmed, 6-4, 6-2, while Meath fell to Catherine Crandall, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. In the No. 6 slot, Ames also lost an extremely close match to Kerry Snow, who came on strong in the third set to win by a score of 2-6, 7-6, 6-2.
Beck, the only player Brown will lose to graduation, "went out with a bang" in her final match for Brown, Taylor said.
"Her leadership as captain these past two years has been significant and has been an important influence within the program and with her teammates," Taylor said. "She will be missed next year not only for her tennis abilities, but for her mature, positive leadership."
The Bears' fifth-place finish in the Ivy League falls short of their initial expectations for the season, before the team lost No. 1 singles player Stephanie Falconi '06 in March and No. 3 Kimberly Singer '06 over spring break. But Taylor said she is proud of the "Sensational Six" and their ability to end the season on a high note.
The team "stuck together and went out and competed hard every time," Taylor said. That's "something they can all feel very proud of."
