Granville, Ohio - In their final regular season match before conference tournament play, the No. 20 Big Red had a comfortable Saturday morning win over the No. 39 Polar Bears on Senior Day, 6-1. The team celebrated seniors Anna Leach and Peyton Oda, and had smooth play in both singles and doubles in the win. Denison finishes the regular season 18-4 and 6-1 in conference play, earning the No. 2 seed in the NCAC Tournament.
No. 20 Denison 6, No. 39 Ohio Northern 1
Doubles: The Big Red went down early in doubles play in the No. 2 position, but quickly rebounded with a win from Oda and Rafaella Ramos in the No. 1 spot 6-3 to knot doubles up 1-1. In the No. 3 position, Maia Nowicki and Maddie Larsen picked up the first point of the day for the Big Red, winning in a 6-4 decision to add much needed momentum into singles play.
1. Peyton Oda/
Rafaella Ramos (DENW) def. Abby Cruser/Jamie Hurst (ONUW) 6-3
2. Caroline Robinson/Jenna Bell (ONUW) def. Dasha Chistyakova/
Caitlin Van Winkle (DENW) 6-2
3. Maia Nowicki/
Maddie Larsen (DENW) def. Amy Grace Beebe/Lauren Okrainec (ONUW) 6-4
Singles: Van Winkle got rolling for a big win in the No. 2 spot, winning her match 6-1, 6-1 to go up 2-0, but the Polar Bears got one back to make it 2-1. Ramos got it back to two with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 decision. In the No. 4 flight, Chistyakova clinched the win with a 6-2, 6-4 win to give Denison their 18th win on the season. Larsen and Oda finished with three-set wins each, as Larsen won 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3) and Oda fought back to win two-straight sets after being down one 0-6, 6-1, 6-0.
1. Peyton Oda (DENW) def. Jenna Bell (ONUW) 0-6, 6-1, 6-0
2. Caitlin Van Winkle (DENW) Lauren Okrainec (ONUW) 6-1, 6-1
3. Rafaella Ramos (DENW) def. Abby Cruser (ONUW) 6-4, 6-2
4. Dasha Chistyakova (DENW) def. Jamie Hurst (ONUW) 6-2, 6-4
5. Maddie Larsen (DENW) def. Audrey Austin (ONUW) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3)
6. Leah Schleibaum (ONUW) def.
Anna Leach (DENW) 6-3, 6-2
Match Notes:
No. 20 Denison: 18-4
No. 39 Ohio Northern: 16-5
Doubles Order: 2, 1, 3
Singles Order: 2, 6, 3, 4, 5, 1
Up Next for the Big Red
Denison will start to prepare for the NCAC Tournament hosted by Kenyon College from May 1-3, where they will face the winner of John Carroll and DePauw on Saturday, May 2 at 1:30 pm.
