ORLANDO, Fla. -- A few days after narrowly missing out on upset bids against a pair of top-25 teams, the Kenyon College men's tennis team orchestrated an upset over No. 16-ranked Wesleyan University. The No. 23-ranked Owls won 6-3 to improve to 4-7 on the season, while the loss dropped the Cardinals to 4-2.
The dual was about as closely contested as it could be, with three tight doubles bouts and five of six singles matches going the maximum three sets. Only four total games separated the teams across the doubles matches, and Kenyon got off to a great start with two early wins.Â
Luis Andres Platas and Eric Zhang posted the largest margin of victory in the No. 1 doubles match, winning 8-6 against Wesleyan's top duo. The No. 3 result came next, where Thomas Kallarakal and Rishil Kondapaneni won 8-7 to give the Owls a 2-0 edge in the best-of-nine dual. Eliezer Gonzalez and Paulo Pocasangre Kreling nearly made it 3-3, but the No. 2 duo fell 7-3 in the tiebreaker of the 8-7 final.
Wesleyan knotted the dual at 2-2 by securing a 6-4, 6-4, straight-set win over Kallarakal, but Kenyon bounced back in a big way. Zhang won 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the No. 5 spot to reclaim the overall lead, and Rakkan Audeh kept the momentum rolling with a rollercoaster 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 victory at No. 6 to put Kenyon one point away from clinching the win.
The Owls eliminated any comeback hopes when Pocasangre Kreling secured a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 decision in the No. 4 match to clinch the dual. Kenyon was not done, however, and Platas capped the victory with a thrilling comeback win in the No. 3 singles match. The senior fell 3-6 in the first set before winning 7-6, 6-3 in sets two and three, tacking a sixth point onto Kenyon's team total. Kondapaneni endured a back-and-forth battle in the top singles spot to end the day. After winning 7-6 (7-1) in the first set, he fell 7-5, 10-4 to close the 6-3 Owls win.
Â
