The Kenyon men’s and women’s tennis teams took to the court over the weekend, with both teams competing in unscored events. The men visited rival Denison University for the Denison Invitational, while the women stayed in Gambier for the Kenyon Invitational.

Men: The Owls got off to a hot start in singles play on Saturday, with Stylianos Papamichael ’29 defeating his opponent in a nail-biter 6-4, 3-6, 10-8. Then, after five straight Kenyon defeats, Alejandro Gonzalez ’27 got the Owls back on track with his 6-4, 6-4 victory. Gonzalez’s win was followed up by a victory from Maximo Llamas Castellanos ’29, who won 6-4, 6-3. The Owls then finished the day off with a pair of wins by Sree Kondaveeti ’29 and Jay Kedar Dixit ’27. The Owls did not find quite as much success on Sunday, but Papamichael and Juozas Cioladis ’28 were bright spots, winning 6-4, 7-5 and 7-6(4), 6-1, respectively.

Kenyon was excellent in doubles play on Saturday, winning four matches. First, Paulo Pocasangre Kreling ’26 and Gonzalez crushed their Denison opponents 6-2 before Castellanos and Josh Finkle ’27 cruised to a 6-1 victory. Dixit and Papamichael had a bit more trouble but were able to right the ship and win 6-3, and Gonzalez and Kondaveeti ended the day with a 6-1 sweep.

Sunday’s doubles matches began with a thriller, as Pocasangre Kreling and Gonzalez narrowly fell 7-6(6). The Owls’ final two wins of the day were smooth sailing, however, as the duos of Castellanos and Cioladis as well as Papamichael and Dixit dominated to close out the weekend.

Women: Kenyon saw a number of wins in singles competition on Saturday, hosting three schools. Kiara Komlodi ’29, Hana Nouaime ’28 and Clare Hudson ’28 led the way, each beating two different opponents. Additionally, Leni Lazaridou ’26, Sophia Carling ’28, Maya Stolarsky ’29, Lauren Dell’Acqua ’27 and Madeline Chappars ’27 all defeated one opponent each, with Stolarsky putting up the most impressive outing by winning 6-0, 6-1. On Sunday, Nouaime got off to a hot start and obliterated her opponent 6-1, 6-1. Elizabeth Ackermann ’28 was the only other Owl to put up a win, as she defeated her Denison foe 7-5, 6-0.

The duo of Carling and Ackermann kicked off doubles play on Saturday with an emphatic 6-3 win. Next, Lazaridou and Nouaime continued Kenyon’s strong run of play with a tight 7-5 win before Komlodi and Hudson finished things out with a dominant performance, winning 6-1. Nouaime and Ackermann picked up right where they left off on Sunday as they cruised to a 6-3 victory. The Owls then hit a bit of a rough patch, suffering five straight losses. However, Kenyon finished on the right note with a pair of wins to close things out, as Carling and Ackerman, followed by Dell’Acqua and Chappars, each took home victories.

After the matches, Carling was proud of the team’s perseverance. “As a team I think everyone tried their absolute best in every match and didn’t give up no matter what the situation was,” she wrote in an email to the Collegian. “There were some tough losses and I think we will definitely learn from these and come back stronger.”

Up next, the men’s team will travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan, for the ITA Central Region Championship while the women’s team will head west for the same event in St. Louis, Missouri. Looking ahead, Carling was optimistic about how the team will fare this year. “I think that the team is capable of anything,” she wrote. “Every single person is a great competitor, we have a fighting chance in every match we play and I think that we can make it really far this year.”