ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 13 Kenyon College women's tennis team kept its postseason engine humming Friday afternoon, dispatching No. 27 Grinnell College 5-0 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship at the Tao Tennis Center on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis.
After opening NCAA play with a shutout win over Rose-Hulman, the Owls followed with another blanking, improving to 20-5 overall while Grinnell closes their season with an overall record of 17-7.
Kenyon's path to the third round started with a clean and convincing doubles sweep. Each Owl pairing posted a 6-2 victory, giving Kenyon all the early breathing room it needed. At No. 1 doubles, Eleni Lazaridou and Hana Nouaime took down Paige Sargent and Isabel Voinescu, while Kiara Komlodi and Shadia Amado Aguad matched the score at No. 2 against Tan Mukherjee and Eliana Martin. Clare Hudson and Maggie Shope finished off the doubles run at No. 3, defeating Marta Gonzalez and Pari Chavan.
With the doubles point secured, the Owls shifted into singles play with little hesitation. Lazaridou made quick work of Sargent at the top of the lineup, rolling to a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles. Classmate Amado Aguad added to the lead at No. 4 singles with an easy 6-2,6-0 victory against Nichole Henning,
Hudson supplied another dominant scoreline at No. 5 singles, sweeping Voinescu 6-0, 6-0. The win pushed Kenyon across the finish line and sealed the Owls' second straight NCAA Tournament shutout. Komlodi also added a completed win at No. 2 singles, defeating Chavan 6-2, 6-3, enroute to a 5-nil win.
Even in the unfinished matches, Kenyon had more work brewing. Nouaime battled through a tighter opening set at No. 3 singles before taking it 7-5, then jumped ahead 3-0 in the second before the match was halted. Maya Stolarsky's No. 6 singles match also went unfinished.
The Owls have now outscored their first two NCAA opponents by a combined 9-0 margin and will turn their attention to a familiar foe in No. 3 WashU, which will serve as both the host and third-round opponent. The rematch is set for tomorrow, Saturday, May 9, at 12 p.m. eastern time at the Tao Tennis Center in St. Louis.
