The Kenyon men’s and women’s tennis teams went undefeated this week and picked up important conference victories as the NCAC Championships inch ever closer. Both teams played the University of Mary Washington (UMW) (Va.), Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) and Wittenberg University and collectively only dropped seven matches out of 54. Then, on Tuesday, the women’s tennis team traveled to The College of Wooster and won 9-0. 

Women

The No. 32 women’s team first took on No. 30 UMW. The Eagles drew first blood and took an early 0-2 lead, but Leni Lazaridou ’26 and Eleni Dakos ’24 halved Kenyon’s deficit, winning the No. 1 doubles matchup in a tiebreaker 8-7 (8-6). In singles play, the Owls spread their wings and soared, only losing one match in a tiebreaker. Shadia Amado Aguad ’26 won in straight sets, finishing first out of the rest of the matchups. In the No. 1 matchup, Lazaridou stayed undefeated, winning 6-2, 7-5. The Owls stayed composed, despite the fact that Allaire Berl ’26 and Dakos dropped their first sets in lopsided fashion. Both players rallied and won the No. 2 and No. 3 matchups 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 and 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 respectively. With the score at 5-2, Catriona MacIntosh ’23 won 6-3,6-1 in the No. 6 matchup to send the Eagles packing. 

The next day, Kenyon was back in business against OWU and decimated its NCAC opponents 9-0. In doubles play, the Owls won all three matches, each by a score of 8-0. Kenyon continued its dominance in the singles matchups dropping only two games out of the total 74 played. 

One day later, Kenyon defeated Wittenberg 9-0 in the team’s Senior Day. It was another emphatic performance from the Owls, who were firing on all cylinders. Before the matches, the team and coaching staff honored MacIntosh and Erika Pontillo ’23 for their contributions to the team during their time at Kenyon. Although the matches were a bit more balanced on Sunday, Kenyon still comfortably won, taking all of the matches in straight sets. MacIntosh won her No. 4 singles matchup 6-1, 6-0 and improved to 11-5 in singles play on the season. 

Finally, the Owls improved their winning streak to six matches in a row with another 9-0 victory, this time against Wooster. They won each match in straight sets. 

Kenyon will compete next at the Midwest Invitational on April 7 and 8. The Owls now comfortably sit at 4-0 in conference play and 12-3 overall. 

Men

The men’s team had an equally successful week that also started against UMW. No. 17 Kenyon fell 1-2 in doubles play, as Eliezer Gonzalez ’26 and Paulo Pocasangre Kreling ’26 picked up their team’s first point. But as they have done so often this season, the Owls turned on the heat in singles play and completed their comeback behind clutch performances across the board. In the No. 2 matchup, Rishil Kondapaneni ’25 won 6-4, 7-5 in a tightly contested matchup, and in the No. 3 game, Luis Andres Platas ’23 came out on top 6-3, 6-4. Pocasangre Kreling was also victorious in a thrilling No. 4 matchup. After falling in the first set 5-7, Pocasangre Kreling rallied to win the second set 6-1 before closing the match 7-5. Finally, Eric Zhang ’25 won the decisive last match 7-5, 6-3.

“It felt great that I was able to contribute to the victory, and I’m very proud of my teammates as well because my win wouldn’t mean anything unless they also won their matches,” said Zhang in an email to the Collegian. “It felt good to help the team to get through the match and earn a hard fought victory.”

The Owls had an easier time against OWU, winning 8-1 at home. Kenyon took an early 3-0 lead against the Battling Bishops and never looked back. Every Owls victory was in straight sets. Gonzalez was one of the standouts of the afternoon, pairing up with Pocasangre Kreling to win the No. 2 doubles match 8-4 and then winning the No. 1 singles match 6-2, 7-5. 

Finally, Kenyon defeated Wittenberg University a day later. Pocasangre Kreling, Gonzalez, Platas, Kondapaneni and Zhang all notched wins in their respective matches.   

Zhang has high hopes for him and his teammates going forward this season. “The part I’m looking forward to the most is the NCAC tournament,” he said. “I hope we can keep the winning momentum forward and beat Denison in the tournament and move on to nationals.”

The men’s tennis team (8-9) will play Oberlin College in Gambier on Friday. The match will be the team’s annual Senior Day as well as an alumni reunion.