GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 12, 2023) – Playing with a perfect 6-0 record in conference play and the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship on the line, the No. 22 Denison University women's tennis team came up short against No. 32 Kenyon College, falling by a final score of 6-3 on Wednesday evening at the Denison Tennis Courts.
It was a matchup between two 14-4 teams who were both undefeated in conference play, were both 8-2 in their last 10 matchups, and who were ranked No. 4 (Denison) and No. 5 (Kenyon) in the ITA Central Region for NCAA Division III.
In doubles, the No. 5-ranked pair in the Central Region,
Sarah Robertson and
Sydney Cianciola, took on Allaire Berl and Eleni Lazaridou, but it was Kenyon that got off to a good start and won 8-5 to take a 1-0 lead overall.
At No. 2 doubles,
Monique Brual and
Caroline Lopez fell 8-7 (7-5) against Eleni Dakos and Shadia Amado Aguad.
Denison then got on the board with a win at No. 3 doubles, 8-7 (7-4), by
Peyton Oda and
Kendall Schrader over Natalie Connelly and Catriona MacIntosh.
In singles, Cianciola, ranked No. 13 in the Central Region, took on No. 4-ranked Lazaridou and fell 6-2, 6-0 in the top spot.
Denison's first win in singles came in the No. 4 spot as Lopez defeated Dakos 6-4, 7-5.
Oda fell 6-2, 6-3 to Amado Aguad at No. 3 singles and
Caroline Kittle lost 6-4, 6-2 to Sai Dhanvi Lalasa Nagireddy at No. 5 singles while Schrader came up short 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) to MacIntosh in a second-set tiebreak at No. 6 singles.
In the final match, Robertson, ranked No. 17 in the Central Region, battled against No. 21-ranked Berl and came back from dropping the first set 6-3 to win each of the final two sets by a score of 6-4.
After its only conference loss of the season, Denison (14-5 overall, 5-1 NCAC) will now look to close out the regular season on a high note during Senior Day vs. Otterbein University starting at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 16.
Kenyon, meanwhile, improves to 15-4 overall and 5-0 in the NCAC, and will have its chance to claim the NCAC title outright with a win at DePauw University on Saturday, April 15.
