Owls compete in ITA Regional, Big Red Invite

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ITA RESULTS I BIG RED INVITE RESULTS

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Playing in the annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Championship, the Kenyon College Owls had some success in singles play and broke even in doubles play. Competition took place at Washington University in St. Louis.

In a field of 64 singles players, seniors Luis Andres Platas and Thomas Kallarakal had the most success for Kenyon.

Platas went into the tournament as the No. 11 seed. He won his first match 6-3, 6-0 over Martin Cardestig of Millikin University. In the second round, Platas was put to the test, but prevailed 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 against Arthur Hermange of Augustana College. That put Platas into the round of 16 and pitted him against the tournament's No. 1 seed, James Hopper of Case Western Reserve University. Platas put up a fight, but bowed out of the bracket with a 6-4, 7-5 loss.

Kallarakal had a similar journey. He won his first match, topping Jacob Burkett of Hope College, 6-3, 7-5, and then went on to a 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 over Kalamazoo College's Peter Fitzgerald. Now into the round 16, Kallarakal couldn't keep things going. He ran into No. 5 seed Ansh Shah, of Case Western Reserve, and fell 6-3, 6-1.

In doubles play, two Kenyon pairings posted 1-1 records.

Platas paired with Eliezer Gonzalez and they received a first-round bye. In the second round, the duo knocked out Hanover College's Mario Bravo and Nicolas Zumba by an 8-4 count. In the next round, Platas and Gonzalez were defeated by a hometown team in Colin Scruggs and Patricio Garcia Muriel Pasquel of Washington University. That match ended 8-5.

Meanwhile, Kallarakal teamed up with Paulo Pocasangre to also post a 1-1 doubles record, following a first-round bye. In the second round, the two recorded an 8-2 win against Baldwin Wallace University's tandem of Matt McGee and Trey Kernan. Following that, the Kenyon pairing was defeated in the next round, 8-2, by another Washington University team, the No. 2-seeded duo of Abhi Ramireddy and Phuc Huynh.

Outside of the main draws, Pocasangre won two matches in the 'Green' singles draw, making it to the semifinal before bowing out. In the 'Red' draw, Eric Zhang went 1-1 for the Owls.

-------

GRANVILLE, Ohio -- Four Kenyon players, who didn't play at the ITA Regional, went to Denison University to compete in the two-day Big Red Invitational. That foursome, however, didn't fare as well as their teammates in St. Louis.

Overall, the four Kenyon players posted a combined singles record of 1-10. The lone Owls' win came from senior Jacob Smith, who defeated Blake Eason of host Denison 6-3, 7-5 on Sunday.

In doubles play, the Owls went a combined 2-5. Smith teamed up with sophomore Christophe Leblanc to post a 1-2 record. Their win came Sunday in the form of an 8-3 final over Drew Swisher and Peyton Specht of Ohio Northern University.

Kenyon's only other win during the weekend at Denison came from the doubles team of Harshal Rukhaiyar and Aidan Biglow. They also chalked up an 8-3 victory playing against Capital University's Thomas Secrist and Spencer Surles.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Aidan Biglow: Junior

Thomas Kallarakal: Junior

Luis Andres Platas: Junior

Harshal Rukhaiyar: Sophomore

Jacob Smith: Junior

Eric Zhang: First-Year

Christophe Leblanc: First-Year

Eliezer Gonzalez: First-Year

Paulo Pocasangre Kreling: First-Year

Players Mentioned

Aidan Biglow
: Junior

Thomas Kallarakal
: Junior

Luis Andres Platas
: Junior

Harshal Rukhaiyar
: Sophomore

Jacob Smith
: Junior

Eric Zhang
: First-Year

Christophe Leblanc
: First-Year

Eliezer Gonzalez
: First-Year

Paulo Pocasangre Kreling
: First-Year