GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Jasper Tennis Center played host to a second straight nationally-ranked clash when the No. 30-ranked Kenyon College men's tennis team hosted No. 19-ranked Carnegie Mellon University. The Owls came out on fire, sweeping all three doubles matches to spark a significant 7-2 Win over the visiting Tartans.
Kenyon boosted its overall record to 8-7 after securing the team's second win over a nationally-ranked opponent this season. Carnegie Mellon dropped to 6-8 on the year, snapping a two-dual winning streak that included back-to-back wins over teams ranked No. 18 and No. 17 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Division III poll. Additionally, the Tartans had won three of their last four matchups, all against top-23 opponents.
The Owls were locked in from the outset, and their strong doubles performances played a decisive role in the dual's overall outcome. Eliezer Gonzalez and Christophe Leblanc started Kenyon off on the right foot when the duo secured an 8-2 victory in the No. 3 doubles match, just the second time the tandem has paired up this season.
Paulo Pocasangre Kreling and Gianluca Bocanegra battled in the top doubles contest, and the duo combined for their first doubles win in four attempts this season. The 8-5 No. 1 doubles win put the Owls ahead 2-0, and Kenyon's No. 2 doubles team followed suit shortly after to secure the 3-0 sweep. Rishil Kondapaneni and Eric Zhang doubled up on the Tartans for an 8-4 win that gave the home team a significant edge heading into singles play.
Kondapaneni carried his momentum into the No. 2 singles match. The junior overcame an early 2-0 first-set deficit to win 6-4, and he matched the feat in set two by erasing a 2-0 disadvantage with six straight games to clinch the 6-4, 6-2 straight-set sweep and pull the Owls within a point of clinching the dual.
The Tartans stayed alive with a 6-3, 6-1 sweep in the No. 4 singles match, but the hope was short-lived. Quickly after Carnegie Mellon cut Kenyon's lead to 4-1, Bocanegra clinched the dual with a gritty win in the No. 3 singles match. The first-year cruised to a 6-1 set-one win before falling 6-3 in set two, and he battled back to win 6-3 in the deciding third set and clinch a team victory in the best-of-nine dual.
Carnegie Mellon's Raghav Jangbahadur, the No. 5-ranked singles player in the Atlantic Region, added another point for the visitors when he won a highly competitive match against Pocasangre Kreling, the No. 9-ranked singles player in the Central Region, by a score of 6-2, 7-6 (9-7). Still, the Owls put the icing on the cake in the final matchups.
Zhang won 6-2, 7-5 at No. 6 singles, clawing back from a 5-3 set-two deficit to secure the sweep. In the No. 5 spot, Rakkan Audeh wrapped up the day with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 win to give Kenyon a 7-2 victory.
After playing their final non-conference match today, the Owls have four North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) contests on deck to close the regular season. Kenyon starts the home stretch with a road dual at Oberlin College on Saturday, April 13, before returning to Gambier for three straight at home before the start of the NCAC Tournament.
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