GRANVILLE, Ohio -- Wednesday afternoon saw two of the top teams in the nation match up in Granville, Ohio, as No. 8-ranked Kenyon College traveled to take on No. 2-ranked Denison University in an integral North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) clash. The top-ranked teams went back and forth in doubles before the hosting Big Red pulled away in singles, handing the Owls a 4-0 defeat as the teams played to clinch.

With the regular season quickly coming to a close, the top-ranked matchup held huge implications for the NCAC standings. The loss was Kenyon's first in NCAC play as the Owls fell to 4-1 in conference contests and 15-3 overall. On the other side, Denison is in the driver's seat to repeat as NCAC Champions, sitting at 6-0 in the NCAC with one conference dual left while improving to 20-2 overall.

Denison took the doubles point after prevailing in the second and third flights, while the No. 1 match was abandoned at 6-6. The Big Red won 6-2 at No. 2 before clinching the best-of-three point with a 7-6 (9-7) victory in a hard-fought battle against seniors Eric Zhang and Rishil Kondapaneni.

In singles, the Big Red secured the sweep by sweeping the top three flights. Paulo Pocasangre Kreling put up the best fight, doing so in the No. 1 match. Still, the junior fell 7-5, 6-1. Alejandro Gonzalez fell 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2, while Kondapaneni fell 6-0, 6-2 in the third flight.

Though the loss broke a five-dual winning streak for the Owls, Kenyon still has three duals on deck to get back to its winning ways before a postseason run. The Owls will play three duals over the next week, starting with a trip to The College of Wooster on Friday for a 4 p.m. NCAC matchup.