Kenyon started their spring season with a dual-meet against the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) with opposite results. The women’s team bested the Racers 6-1 in matches while the men’s team fell 1-6. 

The women’s team emphatically defeated UNOH 6-1, led by a core of first-year players. Leni Lazaridou ’26, who collected the NCAC Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honor, played in the No. 1 singles match, dispatching her opponent 6-3, 6-1. In the No. 2 singles match, Allaire Berl ’26 won her match 6-2, 6-2, already collecting enough points to beat the Racers. But the Owls did not stop there, as Shadia Amado Aguad ’26, Lalasa Nagireddy ’25 and Erika Pontillo ’23 beat their opponents in the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 matchups, respectively. In doubles competition, Lazaridou paired up with Eleni Dakos ’24 in the No. 1 doubles match to comfortably win 6-1, while Berl and Amado Aguad won their doubles matchup as well, albeit cutting it close with a 7-5 victory. Finally, Pontillo and Nagireddy prevailed 6-4 in the No. 3 doubles match. 

In an email to the Collegian, Lazaridou reflected on her collegiate dual-meet debut. “The truth is that getting closer to the date of my first collegiate dual-meet match was a bit stressful, but the excitement prevailed.” When asked about her doubles teammate, Lazaridou only had positive things to say. “She was very supportive and I feel like our different styles of tennis could be very confusing and difficult for the opponents to handle, since Eleni’s left-handed, which adds a lot to her game, especially when it comes to doubles.” 

On the men’s side, Thomas Kallarakal ’23 secured the Owls’ only win of the day in the No. 3 singles match. Kallarakal won the first set 7-6 after a long tie-breaker (7-5) to take the lead before losing 1-6 in set two. However, he rallied to win the decisive third set 6-3. Despite the exciting victory, the rest of Kenyon’s UNOH opponents proved too tough to tackle. The Owls were only able to win one additional set from the other five singles matches. In doubles competition, the Racers defeated the Owls in all three matches, although Eliezer Gonzalez ’26 and Paulo Pocasangre ’26 played valiantly in No. 3 doubles, ultimately falling 7-6 after losing in a tie-breaker 7-3. 

The Owls will return to the courts on Saturday for a road match-up against Kalamazoo College (Mich.).