GAMIBER, Ohio (April 17, 2024) – Playing with sole possession of first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings and a least a share of the NCAC Championship on the line, the No. 26 Denison University women's tennis team instead fell 8-1 at No. 43 Kenyon College on Wednesday evening.
Denison was swept in doubles as
Caroline Kittle and
Anna Leach fell 8-2 against Lalasa Nagireddy and Ana Brand at No. 3 doubles while
Maia Nowicki and
Peyton Oda (No. 1 doubles) and
Dasha Chistyakova and
Caroline Lopez (No. 2 doubles) both fell by a score of 8-4.
Oda (No. 1 singles) and Chistyakova (No. 2 singles) both fell 6-0, 6-1 against the No. 19 and No. 23-ranked singles players in NCAA Division III, respectively, while the sixth Kenyon point came as Kittle lost 6-4, 6-2 to Shadia Amado Aguad at No. 3 singles.
Denison's lone win came from Lopez, who pulled out a comeback victory in a third-set super tiebreaker, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 1-0 (10-7), over Eleni Dakos at No. 4 singles.
The final two matches saw Nowicki (No. 5 singles) and
Elizabeth Hoo (No. 6 singles) both fall by scores of 6-3, 6-4.
After its first conference loss of the season, Denison (13-8 overall, 4-1 NCAC) will now look to close out the regular season on a high note during Senior Day as they host both DePauw University (9 a.m.) and Capital University (2 p.m.) on Sunday, April 21. Kenyon, meanwhile, improves to 10-6 overall and 5-0 in the NCAC, and will have its chance to claim the NCAC title outright with a win over DePauw on Saturday, April 20.
