ORANGE, Calif. -- The Kenyon College women's tennis team started its spring break schedule against Chapman University, but the Owls could not open their trip with a win. On Tuesday evening, the No. 28-ranked Panthers pushed past the No. 19-ranked Owls in a tightly contested 5-4 dual as Chapman improved to 1-1 while Kenyon fell to 1-2.
Kenyon came out on top in three singles matches and won the No. 1 doubles bout, but Chapman's depth backed up a big No. 1 singles win to help the home team prevail. The Panthers took an early edge with wins in the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles contests, and they earned the narrow dual victory after securing a split of the singles matches.
All three doubles matches were close, but all but one of the singles scores were decided in straight sets. Eleni Lazaridou and Shadia Amado Aguad picked up an 8-6 win in the top doubles spot, but Chapman won 8-7 over Eleni Dakos and Ana Brand at No. 2 and 8-6 over Madeline Chappars and Lalasa Nagireddy at No. 3.
In singles, the Panthers made their mark when Alexis Golin downed Lazaridou 6-4 in each of the two sets. Kenyon got wins in the Nos. 2, 3, and 4 matches, but Chapman controlled the Nos. 5 and 6 bouts. At No. 2, Dakos played the only three-set singles match, where she came back from a 7-6 first-set loss to win 6-7, 6-0, 1-0 (10-8). Amado Aguad posted the biggest margin of victory with a 6-2, 6-0 win in the third spot, and Brand battled for a 7-6, 6-4 win at No. 4. Nagireddy (6-3, 6-3) and Chappars (6-2, 6-2) fell in the final two spots.
The Owls will look to get back on track when they take on the Whittier College Poets at 6 p.m. PST later today, March 6.
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