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Kenyon College Athletics

Rishil Kondapaneni
Sejin Kim
2
Kenyon KENM (1-2)
7
Winner Case Western Reserve Univ. CWR-M (3-2)
Kenyon KENM
(1-2)
2
Final
7
Case Western Reserve Univ. CWR-M
(3-2)
Winner

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | | Lucien Kisch

No. 2-ranked Spartans ground Owls, 7-2

MAYFIELD, Ohio -- The Kenyon College men's tennis team took on the No. 2-ranked Case Western Reserve University Spartans on Saturday evening just outside of Cleveland. The Owls battled hard, but eventually fell, 7-2.

Case Western won two of the three doubles matches to take an early 2-1 lead. Kenyon lost third doubles, 8-2, but put up a good fight in first doubles, with the duo of Luis Andres Platas and Eric Zhang hanging tight in the early going. However, a three-game run from Case moved the score from 4-4 to 7-4 and put the Kenyon pair down in what proved to be an insurmountable hole. Despite a run at it, the Owls couldn't quite recover and lost 8-6.

Eliezer Gonzalez and Paulo Pocasangre Kreling had better luck, securing a point for the Owls in second doubles. While their match opened 3-3, the Kenyon pairing hit its stride from there and rolled to an 8-4 victory.

The singles matches were where Case really took control of the contest. The Spartans won five of the six matches in straight sets, taking care of business against the Owls with strong all around play. 

Third singles was the one exception. Kenyon's Rishil Kondapaneni went down a break early, but with Case's Ansh Shah serving for the set, Kondapeneni broke serve to stay in the set. The sophomore then won the next three games to take the set 7-5. 

Kondapeneni took the momentum with him into the second set, racing out to an early 4-1 lead. Shah was still in the match, though, and, with his back against the wall, began to rally. Shah's comeback evened the match, as he took the second set 7-5. Kondapeneni then regrouped and won the tiebreaker to claim the match.

The Owls, who are now 1-2, will next travel to Sewanee, Tennessee to face off against No. 10-ranked Emory University in a neutral site match next Saturday. That will be followed by a Sunday match against the host Tigers of Sewanee.
 
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