Owls trio bows out of NCAAs after opening round

5/23/2026 9:27:00 PM

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The trio of Kenyon College men's tennis players started up its run at the 2026 Division III Men's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships on Saturday, with Alejandro Gonzalez and Maximo Llamas Castellanos participating in singles and Juozas Cioladis joining Llamas Castellanos for doubles.

The Owls put up a solid showing in each of the three matches, but ultimately were unable to convert in any of them, falling out of contention for the tournament.

Gonzalez got the singles round of 32 started for Kenyon, taking on Theo Billson of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Billson made the first move, taking three straight games in the opening set. Gonzalez fired a come from behind victory in the fourth game to get on the board, but the Warhawk charged to three more wins to take the first set 6-1.

Just like in set one, Billson opened up a three-game lead on Gonzalez. The junior came back to take the next two games, but Billson won the final three to come away with the second set 6-2 and the game.

Across the bracket, Llamas Castellanos faced Advik Mareedu from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, who entered the tournament as the No. 1 singles seed per the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. Llamas Castellanos, who is 20th, bursted out of the gates with four straight wins in the opening set. Mareedu won the next two, but the first year snipped the run to go up 5-2 in the set. Two more wins from Mareedu made it close, but Llamas Castellanos won the pivotal tenth game and the first set 6-4.

The second set was another close fight, with Llamas Castellanos winning back to back games twice to go up 4-1 early. The Stags ace came back with wins in four out of the next five games to set the score 5-5, and after Llamas Castellanos went ahead 6-5, Mareedu took the next two in tiebreaking fashion to capture the second set 7-6.

In the third and final set, Mareedu took the opening game, but Llamas Castellanos fired back with three straight wins to take a 3-1 advantage. The pair split the next four games, setting the margin to 5-3 Kenyon.

However, just as he did throughout the match, Mareedu did not go down easy. He rattled off four straight games to take the set in tiebreaking fashion 7-5 and ultimately the nearly three hour match.

After the conclusion of his singles bid, Llamas Castellanos joined up with Cioladis, who faced off against Mareedu again along with his partner Caleb Settles, who own the No. 1 doubles ranking from the ITA.

The Stags duo took an early lead, capturing the opening set 6-2. After each team traded two games, Mareedu and Settles stormed to a four game run to win the opener.

In the second set, a similar pattern emerged but in favor of Kenyon. Each team traded two games apiece, then Llamas Castellanos and Cioladis rattled off four straight games for a 6-2 winner to even things up.

Just like in the previous two, the third set started off two games to two. The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps pair surged to a 5-2 advantage, but the Owls battled back, eventually sending the third to a tiebreaker after a 6-6 deadlock. In the extra frame, however, the Stags were able to take the set and match, delivering a 7-4 score.

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