By Staff

Last Saturday, Kenyon’s volleyball team took the court against the Fighting Muskies in hopes of avenging a previous loss and receiving their first win. Unfortunately, the Ladies were again unsuccessful against Muskingum University, losing three sets to one. Muskingum won the first two sets by scores of 26-24 and 25-22, respectively, but Kenyon rallied in the third to win 25-20. Muskingum then finished off the match by winning the final set 25-9.

“Unfortunately we lost Ana [Maricic ’14] officially this week; her foot is broken ﾅ but we have enough people this year that we can adjust around that,” Co-Captain Sierra DeLeon ’14 said.

DeLeon tied her personal record form last season, racking up 20 kills for Kenyon, while MaryJo Scott ’14 had an impressive 65 attempts but just 13 kills. On the defensive end, McKenzie Mitchell ’16 led the team with 19 digs, while Melanie Couchman ’14 followed her with 13 digs.

The Ladies will play next on Sept. 21 at Hiram College.

“This Hiram game is a fresh start for us,” DeLeon said. “It’s our first conference game, and we’re going to use that to take off for the season and start fresh.”

ﾗ Reed Dickerson

The Kenyon men’s tennis team began their season hosting eight schools at the Kenyon Invitational. Sam Geier ’16 said the tournament offered “a lot of chances for everybody to get some playing time.” Kenyon’s doubles A-team of Tim Rosensteel ’15 and Colin Haas ’15 advanced to the championship match, eventually losing to a team from the College of Wooster.

Several important contributors from last season, including All-American Michael Razumovsky ’15, returned this year. Razumovsky weathered some injuries last year, ailments that have kept him off the court so far this season as well. In returning to playing shape, he said he hopes to help the team achieve its ultimate goals. “We want to win a national title,” Razumovsky said. “But I think you’ve got to take baby steps.”

Head Coach Scott Thielke agreed that pursuing a national title is top priority for the season, and that his players have been “moving in the right direction” since winning the national indoor championships against Emory University last February.

The Lords have this week off from competition, and will return to action in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Sept. 27 for the three-day Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Qualifier.

ﾗ Alex Pijanowski

The Ladies opened their fall season with a hot start at the Oberlin College Invitational. Taylor Diffley ’16 led the charge, winning all of her six matches ﾗ three singles and three doubles matches. Diffley’s most impressive showing was against Sara Zargham of Case Western Reserve University, the top-ranked player in the region, where she won in three sets, 6-4, 4-6 and 10-5.

Jenna Murray ’17 had a breakout performance. Doubles partner with Diffley, the duo defeated two Denison University teams and one Allegheny College team. Madison Hoffman ’16 also excelled; like Diffley, she won all three of her singles matches. The Ladies played their way back into the national rankings last year ﾗ an accomplishment Head Coach Scott Thielke said he is proud of. “That was a really good achievement for them,” Thielke said.

Diffley said this team is “very hard-working” and is willing to “give everything [they’ve] got,” a trait which she is confident will help them continue to excel.

The team hopes to continue its winning streak next in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Qualifier in Greencastle, Ind., which begins Sept. 20.

ﾗ Alex Pijanowski

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