Men’s tennis might have set a new baseline of perfection: they have not lost a single match in their last three dual matches. The Lords (9-9; NCAC 4-0) traveled to the College of Wooster (9-13; 0-3) on Thursday, April 14 and dominated the Fighting Scots 9-0. While every Lord was able to beat his opponent, Mike Roberts ’17 played particularly well and easily achieved victory at the fifth singles position, winning both sets 6-1.

On Saturday the Lords, ranked 17th nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), faced 39th-ranked Oberlin College (13-7; 2-1) on the road. Despite Oberlin’s ranking the Lords beat the Yeomen 9-0. It was Michael Liu ’18, playing in the second singles position, who finished his match first and blew his opponent out of the water, 6-2, 6-0.

The third doubles team of Nicholas Paolucci ’19 and Roberts finished off their competitors quickly with a score of 8-1.

The Lords’ last conference match of the season was Sunday at home on the outdoor Vandenberg Courts against Ohio Wesleyan University. (OWU; 7-10; 0-3) Yet again, the Lords played a perfect match, winning 9-0.

For his role in the win at first singles Sam Geier ’16 was selected as the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) player of the week. In both the Oberlin and OWU games he posted a set record of 4-0 in doubles and singles play. This was the second time this season Geier received the honor, and the third time in his career. He is ranked first in singles play in the ITA’s Central Region with a season record of 20-4. With a total singles record of 70-22, he ranks sixth all-time in winning percentage at Kenyon.

The Lords begin the NCAC championship tournament April 29 at Denison University (10-6; 2-1) in Granville, Ohio, where they will pursue their 10th consecutive NCAC championship victory.   

In the tournament, Liu sees opportunity.

“I think we need to use this time to make sure we are all in top shape,” he said. “I hope after a long season of tough matches, we can stay focused and fight for every match. Like one of my teammates like[s] to say: ‘We want the cup.’”