Dartmouth Drops Heartbreaker to Penn at ECAC Championship

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Top-seeded Dartmouth men's tennis dropped a heartbreaker to No. 5 seed Penn in the Big Green's first match of the ECAC Indoor Championship by a score of 4-3 on Saturday.

Dartmouth won the doubles point following a 6-1 victory by sophomores Dan Martin and John Speicher at the No. 3 position and a 6-3 win by juniors Charlie Broom and David Horneffer at the top spot. Playing at the No. 2 position, sophomores Peter Conklin and Casey Ross were ahead, 5-4, when the first point was won.

Martin's 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Kevin Zhu at No. 3 singles gave the Big Green a 2-0 advantage, but Quaker wins at the No. 2, 1 and 6 put the home team up, 3-2. Two of those matches went to three sets. At the No. 5 spot, freshman Sid Chari took down Noah Makarome, 6-7, 7-6, 6-0 to tie things up.

It all came down to play at the No. 4 position. Dimitry Shatalin won the first set, 7-5, before Conklin claimed the second, 7-6(7). In an incredibly close third set, Shatalin came out on top, 7-6(7).

Dartmouth will return to action on Sunday with a noon match against Princeton.

1) Broom/Horneffer (Dartmouth) def. Mautner/Shatalin (Penn), 6-3
2) Conklin/Ross (Dartmouth) vs. Zhu/Graziani (Penn), 5-4, DNF
3) Martin/Speicher (Dartmouth) def. Cancilla/Haryn (Penn), 6-1
Order of finish: 3,1

1) Mautner (Penn) def. Broom (Dartmouth), 7-5, 7-5
2) Graziani (Penn) def. Horneffer (Dartmouth), 6-4, 7-6(8)
3) Martin (Dartmouth) def. Zhu (Penn), 6-3, 6-4
4) Shatalin (Penn) def. Conklin (Dartmouth), 7-5, 6-7(7), 7-6(7)
5) Chari (Dartmouth) def. Makarome (Penn), 6-7, 7-6, 6-0
6) Cancilla (Penn) def. Ross (Dartmouth), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 3,2,1,6,5,4

Schedules