Alyssa Moreau ’18 serves in a home match against Denison University on Monday. Kenyon lost the match 5-4. Photo by Emily Stegner
Women’s tennis kept up their level of play while the men’s team faltered on their spring-break trips to California two weeks ago. The Ladies went west with an overall record of 3-3 and returned with the same win percentage and a record of 6-6.
The Ladies scored wins over Biola University (La Mirada, Calif.), Principia College (Elsah, Ill.) and Occidental College (Los Angeles). However, they fell to nationally ranked (11th in the northeast) Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.) and nationally ranked Washington University in St. Louis (first in the central region), as well as Concordia University (Irvine, Calif.).
The Lords began their trip with a record of 2-6 and ended it with an overall record of 3-8. They beat the nationally 26th-ranked University of Texas at Tyler, but lost to the first team in the International Tennis Association rankings, Trinity University (San Antonio), as well as Division-II Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, Calif.).
“It was a tough loss in the first round against Trinity, but we played Texas-Tyler very closely and showed potential,” Assistant Coach Alvin Cheng said.
The Lords will be back on the court Sunday when they play Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh). They hope to show some of their potential and perform well against the Tartans.
“We played really good teams in California and now going into conference play, it prepares us for some tough matches,” Cheng said, optimistic about the team’s upcoming match-ups.
The Ladies returned home for their first conference match against Denison University (6-6; NCAC 1-0) on Monday. The match came down to the wire, with the rivals tied 4-4 going into their last singles match. Annie Reiner ’19 was the deciding factor and put up a strong fight, taking her Denison opponent to three sets; the Ladies eventually fell to the Big Red, who are ranked 23rd nationally, with Reiner going down 4-6 in the last set.
Regardless of the result, Cheng remained optimistic about the Ladies’ hard work during the matchup. “Going 4-5 against the 23rd-ranked team in the country shows that we belong there and if [we can] pull a few more wins [we’ll] have the match,” Cheng said. The Ladies will look to continue improving at the Midwest Regional Invitational in Madison, Wis. on Friday.