May 19, 2009

Courtesy Kenyon Athletics

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Kenyon College men's tennis team never got its footing Tuesday in the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals and No. 2 Emory University dismissed the seventh-ranked Lords from the championship tournament with a 5-0 loss. The Eagles ended Kenyon's season in the Elite Eight for the second year in a row, setting the Lords' final 2009 record at 21-8.

Dropping all three doubles contests put Kenyon in a deep hole heading into singles play. The Lords fought their way to first-set wins at the fifth and sixth flights, and came out on the short end of a pair of narrow 7-5 setbacks at the No. 1 and No. 4 singles. Unfortunately, Kenyon never got the opportunity to build on those performances as Emory (20-3) picked up the clinching victories with quick, 6-2, 6-2, and 6-1, 6-4 decisions at the second and third singles.

The victory sent the Eagles to Wednesday's semifinal round where they will square off against UC-Santa Cruz for the right to advance to Thursday's championship match. Meanwhile, the Lords now turn their support to the three players that qualified for this weekend's individual and doubles tournaments.

Junior Michael Greenberg (Chapel Hill, NC/East Chapel Hill), the defending national champion, and sophomore Tomas Piskacek (Sestajovice, Czech./Gymnazium Spitalska) are among 32 participants in the singles bracket. Greenberg will team with classmate William VandenBerg (Milwaukee, WI/University School) to attempt to navigate the field of 16 for the doubles title. Singles and doubles play begins Friday, with the exact draws to be determined Wednesday afternoon.