Pair of first-round exits ends Kenyon’s season

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Kenyon College's Erika Oku and Daria Beshentseva lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III Singles and Doubles Championships on Friday.

SINGLES

University of the South's Emma Smith had a repertoire of shots in her arsenal and knocked off Oku in three sets.

Competition was tight throughout, with numerous games in all three sets reaching deuce.

In the first, Smith won two of the first three games before Oku broke her serve the next two occasions and attained a 4-3 advantage. Later, with the tally knotted up 5-5, Oku won the next two games and earned a 7-5, first-set win after a return groundstroke from Smith went long.

Second-set action saw Smith pull away as Oku had some trouble on volleys and cross-court shots. Leading 3-2, Smith won three games in a row to force a final third set.

The final stanza saw Oku jump out to a 2-1 advantage after a forehand winner to the right corner. Just a few sequences later, Kenyon's top singles player had a chance at a breakpoint to go up 4-2, but Smith denied that opportunity and later tied it 3-all. Following that, Smith reeled off three-straight games to knock off the fifth-seeded Oku.

DOUBLES

Competition in doubles play was extremely high as Emory University's Christina Watson and Stephanie Taylor won over Oku and Beshentseva 6-4 and 7-6 (2).

Play started outdoors at Champions Tennis Club. In the first seven games there was just one break and that came to Kenyon's duo who took a 4-3 lead following a Beshentseva volley from the right service box. Taylor and Watson responded to win the next game before a rain delay occurred.

At 4:33, the players left the outdoor courts and ventured to The McCallie School which housed six indoor surfaces.

After about a 1-hour, 20-minute break, the two teams resumed play. After the long delay, Emory's team won the next two games and the first set, 6-4, after some impressive poaching.

Kenyon then got in gear in the second before an Eagles rally. Oku and Beshentseva were up 3-0 after some good volleying and overhead shots.

However, it would not last. Smith and Watson responded with three-straight games of their own to tie the set.

The two squads would trade the next few games before Kenyon, down 6-5, forced a tiebreaker. With the 6-6 tie, Emory's team tallied five of the first six points before winning 7-6 (7-2).

For Oku, she ended her career as one of only two Ladies - Caryn Cuthbert being the other - to earn at least two All-America honors in both singles and doubles. She was also a two-time NCAC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honoree.

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Players Mentioned

Daria Beshentseva: Junior

Erika Oku: Senior

Players Mentioned

Daria Beshentseva
: Junior

Erika Oku
: Senior