On Sunday, the No. 30 Kenyon women’s tennis team took on Sweet Briar College (Texas) and won 8-1, then three days later the No. 17 men’s team fell 7-2 to No. 14 Denison University. The women’s team has a record of 8-3, while the men’s record stands at 5-9 (0-1 NCAC).

Women

Against Sweet Briar, the Owls delivered a strong performance right from the start as they jumped out to an early 2-1 lead in doubles play. Allaire Berl ’26 and Shadia Amado Aguad ’26 won the No. 2 doubles matchup 8-3, while Lalasa Nagireddy ’25 and Natalie Connelly ’25 won the No. 3 matchup by a score of 8-2. The Owls never looked back and went on to sweep singles play. Continuing their impressive form from the tournament in Orlando, Leni Lazaridou ’26, Berl, Eleni Dakos ’24 and Amado Aguad all won their singles matches in straight sets. Berl was happy with her performance against Sweet Briar but sees room for improvement. “I was really proud of my mental strength and grit to grind down my opponents in every point,” she wrote in an email to the Collegian. “My goal for the season is to improve my serve. … If I improve my first and second serve percentages, my game would dramatically improve.”

In the No. 5 match, Nagireddy came out on top in a nailbiter. After dropping the first set to a tiebreaker 6-7 (2-7), Nagireddy stormed back and handily won the second set 6-1 to force a tiebreaker, which she ultimately won 1-0 (10-2). Finally, in the No. 6 matchup, Catriona Macintosh ’23 won her match 6-2, 7-5 to cement an emphatic 8-1 win. The Owls will return to the courts on Friday to face No. 30 University of Mary Washington (Va.) at home. 

Men

Denison University proved to be too tough for the Owls, as the men’s tennis team lost 7-2 on Wednesday. After losing all three doubles matchups, Kenyon earned its two points in singles play thanks to Luis Andres Platas ’23 and Paulo Pocasangre Kreling ’26. In the No. 3 matchup, Platas won 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, while in the last match of the day, Pocasangre Kreling defeated his opponent 6-4, 6-4. Despite the two wins, it was not enough to keep the Owls from dropping their first NCAC match of the season. Next, Kenyon will take on No. 34 University of Mary Washington on Friday before continuing with six consecutive NCAC games.