The Kenyon men’s and women’s tennis teams both had successful weekends, claiming a slew of conference sweeps. The women’s team remained undefeated in NCAC play, while the men’s team dropped its first conference match to Denison University.
Women: Over the weekend, the No. 22 Kenyon women’s tennis team continued its regular season, playing three matches at home across three days. First, on Friday, the Owls crushed Wittenberg University 7-0, before repeating their efforts for blowout victories against Ohio Wesleyan University and Oberlin College over the weekend, respectively. Kenyon’s record now stands at 12-5 (5-0 NCAC).
The Owls got out to a quick start in doubles play, with duos Shadia Amado Aguad ’26 and Clare Hudson ’28 as well as Sophia Carling ’28 and Elizabeth Ackermann ’28 shutting out their opponents 6-0 to earn the doubles point. Singles play was no different for Kenyon, as all six Owls cruised to victory. Amado Aguad, Hudson, Ackermann and Maggie Shope ’28 did not give up a single game en route to easy 6-0, 6-0 wins, while Hana Nouaime ’28 and Lauren Dell’Acqua won 6-0, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-0, respectively.
Kenyon looked to continue its momentum on Saturday against Ohio Wesleyan for Senior Day. Once again, Leni Lazaridou ’26 and Nouaime, Amado Aguad and Shope and Ackermann and Carling all easily swept their opponents to secure the doubles point. The Owls’ lone senior, Lalasa Nagireddy ’25, got things started in singles play, winning her match 6-0, 6-0. Nouaime, Hudson and Dell’Acqua then followed up Nagireddy’s performance with easy wins. In the last match of the day, Carling faced some adversity, but quickly recovered to win 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 and complete the second straight shutout for Kenyon.
On Sunday, the pairings of Lazaridou and Nouaime, along with Amado Aguad and Hudson, got things started against Oberlin with quick 6-0 wins. Despite having already earned the doubles point, Ana Brand ’27 and Nagireddy continued the Owls’ success with a 6-3 victory of their own. As was the story all weekend, Kenyon dominated in singles play. Lazaridou faced the most resistance of any Owl, but still pulled out a 6-2, 6-2 win. Then, all five of the other Owls rolled through their matches to bring the weekend to a close without Kenyon losing a single match. Nouaime’s strong performances over these three matchups, where she went 7-0 across singles and doubles play, earned her the first NCAC Athlete of the Week honor of her career.
The Owls will look to extend their now four-game win streak on Friday, when they head north to The College of Wooster. Kenyon has not given up even a single point to Wooster since 2022.
Men: The No. 8 Kenyon men’s tennis team had a successful weekend after taking down two NCAC opponents. Saturday’s match was extra special as the team celebrated Senior Day and honored the 2025 senior class. Then, on Wednesday, the Owls were bested by Denison University to snap their undefeated NCAC record.
On Friday, the Owls took on the Wittenberg University Tigers in what proved to be a decisive victory. The doubles matches were a strong start to a successful day, as the Owls shutout the Tigers in two of the three matches and lost only one set in the third match. Paulo Pocasangre Kreling ’26, Jay Dixit ’27, Gianluca Bocanegra ’27 and Rohan Sriram ’28 all recorded wins in both the singles and doubles matches, while Alejandro Gonzalez ’27 and Juozas Cioladis ’28 competed only in doubles play.
Of the many impressive performances, Pocasangre Kreling stood out, as he won the No. 1 singles match 6-1, 6-1 and, along with Gonzalez, won the No. 1 doubles match 6-1. Sriram also continued his impressive first-year campaign by winning his singles match 6-1, 6-0 and pairing up with Bocanegra to win the duo’s doubles match 6-0.
On Saturday, Kenyon took on Ohio Wesleyan University, and the Owls found similar success to the day before, recording their second straight 7-0 sweep. The pairings of Pocasangre Kreling and Eric Zhang ’25, Dixit and Josh Finkle ’27 and Rakkan Audeh ’25 and Rishil Kondapaneni ’25 all cruised to victory in doubles play to earn the doubles point. In the singles matches, all six of the Owls had no problems with their Ohio Wesleyan opponents and finished off the sweep.
Kenyon’s 15-2 start to the season has led Christophe Leblanc ’25 to believe that the Owls’ momentum can lead into a NCAC Championship come May. “This is the best team we’ve had in my four years here. The team chemistry has been great all year,” Leblanc wrote in an email to the Collegian. “We’re ready to play the other team in the conference [Denison] on Wednesday, that’s what matters to us.”
In what could end up being a preview of this year’s NCAC Championship, Kenyon took on No. 2 Denison on Wednesday, looking to maintain its undefeated NCAC record. The Owls got out to a slow start, dropping their first two doubles matches to give the point advantage to the Big Red. The pair of Finkle and Dixit fell in a quick 6-2 match before Zhang and Kondapaneni were bested in a tight tiebreaker 7-6 (9-7).
The Kenyon struggles continued in singles play, with multiple Owls falling to their Big Red opponents in straight-set matches. Kondapaneni’s match was the first to finish, ending in a 6-2, 6-0 defeat. Gonzalez’s game concluded right after with another point in favor of Denison, this time with a 6-3, 6-1 loss. The final Owl to finish was Pocasangre Kreling, whose tight 7-5 first set loss gave way to a 6-1 second set in favor of the Big Red. The rest of the matches went unfinished, and Denison completed its 4-0 sweep of Kenyon.
The Owls’ record now stands at 15-3 (4-1 NCAC). Looking ahead, Kenyon will continue its regular season on Friday against the College of Wooster.