Final Results
Granville, Ohio – The Oberlin College women's tennis squad matched up against Denison University, the nation's fifth (5) ranked team, tonight in non-conference action playing indoors at the Mitchell Center.
Denison (12-3) moved up one place in the latest Campbell's/Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings released this past Tuesday and currently occupy the Central Region's second spot.
The sophomore duo of
Ariel Lewis and
Finley Gates found themselves in a tough match-up squaring off against the Central Region's second ranked doubles pairing in Denison's Marta Drane and Kristin Cobb. Drane and Cobb raced out to a quick lead and used the early momentum to earn an 8-2 win despite a solid effort by the Yeowomen's top hitters.
The Big Red swept up doubles action clinching the second spot 8-0 and getting past Oberlin 8-3 in the third doubles match.
Lewis is now among the top five ranked players in the region moving up five spots to fifth. She proved early on in the No. 1 singles match that she is deserving of her recent accent in the polls grabbing a 6-2 first set win over Drane. Denison's ace hit big shots and earned crucial points in both the second set and super tiebreaker earning 6-3 and 10-5 wins showing that she deserves her number two (2) ranking.
Head Coach
Constantine Ananiadis was pleased with tonight's effort. “This was a step in the right direction. We are closing the gap between regionally and nationally ranked opponents and ourselves by performing well throughout the line up. Ariel put in a good showing and played well but Marta came up with some big shots to earn the win.”
In other singles action
Preeya Shah stayed with Sarah Short in the third spot through both sets but came up just a bit shy falling 6-4, 6-3.
Oberlin (9-8) has a quick turn around as they meet another North Coast Athletic Conference team tomorrow Saturday, April 17th at 10 a.m. The non conference action against Ohio Wesleyan University is scheduled to be played in Granville unless the match is moved indoors where it will then take place on OWU's campus.
