On Wednesday, the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Committee selected the individuals who will compete in the singles and doubles competition of the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships.
Among those selections were Kenyon College's Erika Oku and Daria Beshentseva.
In the doubles championship, the duo of Oku and Beshentseva were one of 16 teams selected, while Oku earned a spot in the 32-player singles bracket.
Each championship is single elimination and will take place May 28–30 at Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The University of the South and the Chattanooga Sports Commission will serve as hosts.
As Kenyon's No. 1 doubles tandem the last two seasons, Oku and Beshentseva have produced an 18-5 overall record and have earned All-America accolades from the ITA. This season, they have posted a 7-1 mark, are the top-ranked doubles team in the Central Region and rank No. 7 in all of Division III.
In singles, Oku will look to advance in that competition after falling in the first round two years ago in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was her first appearance at that time. To date, the senior from Hinsdale, Illinois, is 65-14 in her career, a two-time All-America honoree and the top-ranked player in the Central Region.
Nine Lords lock up All-NCAC East honors
Nine Kenyon College Lords earned spots on the 2021 All-North Coast Athletic Conference men's lacrosse team, which was announced on Wednesday by the conference office.
The Lords' lengthy list included Joe Boesel, James Buckley, Declan Curry, Ollie Martin, David Metzger, Finn Murray, Graham O'Brien, Weston Powell and Reed Russell.
Due to the pandemic, the NCAC was split into two divisions this season and the release of the All-NCAC team reflected that. Each division (East and West) were allotted one team of honorees. In a typical year, the NCAC votes deserving student-athletes from all ten institutions onto a first team, a second team and an honorable mention team.
Kenyon participated in and won the NCAC East Division, which also included Allegheny College, Hiram College, The College of Wooster and Oberlin College, which chose not to participate in conference competition.
Kenyon's All-NCAC East honorees include three seniors in Martin, Metzger and Russell. Martin, selected in the long stick midfielder spot, played all seven games for the 6-1 Lords. He racked up 35 ground balls and caused five turnovers. Additionally, he scored twice and served up one assist. Metzger, the team's starting goalkeeper, made 91 saves while posting a .650 save percentage and 7.28 goals-against average. Russell manned the faceoff spot and delivered a .641 win percentage (98-of-153) while posting a team-best 47 ground balls.
The Lords' junior class was represented on the All-NCAC East squad by Buckley, Curry and Powell. Buckley was only able to play in four games but made big contributions to a defense that allowed just 7.43 goals per game and held opponents to a .356 percentage in their man-up situations. Curry was the team's second-leading scorer from his midfielder position. He tallied 24 points on 16 goals and eight assists. Powell, an attack, was right on Curry's heels, ringing up 23 points on 13 goals and a team-high 10 assists despite missing two games.
The other trio of Kenyon honorees were from the sophomore class. Boesel shot to the top of the Lords' scoring chart with a team-high 31 points. His 21 goals were also a team-high and his 10 assists tied the high mark along with Powell. O'Brien was another instrumental piece of Kenyon's stout defense. Individually, he scooped up 17 ground balls and forced five turnovers. Finally, Murray was a do-it-all player from his short stick midfielder spot. His numbers included 23 ground balls, three caused turnovers and a pair of goals.
Eight of the Kenyon selections were first-time all-conference honorees. Only Metzger, who was named to the 2019 All-NCAC second team, is a two-time all-conference performer.
Kenyon whipped through the regular season with a 6-0 record that included a 4-0 mark in NCAC East games. The Lords' season came to a close on Saturday, May 8, with a 12-10 loss to No. 15-ranked Denison University in the NCAC Championship game.
