"[Dirksen]'s a really good player," Bajin said. "I was a little hurt, but she really came to play."

Junior No. 3 Sanaz Ghazal and sophomore No. 4 Jennie Timoney were also swept by their Big Green counterparts. Gahal fell to Taff, Dartmouth's other departing senior, 6-3, 6-2, and Timoney lost to fellow sophomore Carlie Bashleben, 6-1, 6-1.

However, the Crimson kept it close throughout singles play. Captain Vedica Jain, playing in the No. 2 spot, defeated Big Green sophomore Sardita Yardi, 6-4, 6-4, and Harvard sophomore Fleur Broughton took a close second set 7-5 from Courtney Smalley to clinch a win at No. 5.

Freshman Lara Naqushbandi broke out of her recent doldrums, cruising past Dartmouth No. 6 Carolyn Roth 6-1, 6-0. Her singles win sent Harvard into doubles play deadlocked with the Big Green, 3-3.

If anything, this scenario seemed to favor Harvard, as the Crimson doubles teams had been strong all year. Despite their advantage on paper, however, all three of the Harvard duos faltered in Hanover. The Big Green senior tandem of Dirksen and Allison Taff defeated Bajin and Ghazal by an 8-3 margin.

Dirksen had only recently returned to doubles play after her previous injuries, but she and Taff won their fourth straight match with relative ease, and Dartmouth seemed poised for the win.

The decisive point came at No. 2 doubles, where Jain and Andrea Magyera fell to a pair of sophomores. Sarita Yardi and Carly Bashleben defeated them by an identical 8-3 score, and Dartmouth had clinched a winning Ivy record.