CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – No. 2 Wesleyan University used its depth in the latter portion of its singles lineup to defeat No. 12 Kenyon College 5-1 on Tuesday, May 25, in the NCAA Tournament semifinal round.
Wins at four through six singles helped the Cardinals (10-0) advance to their second straight NCAA finals appearance.
Before individual play, Wesleyan built a 2-1 lead in doubles.
Early on, the Ladies (11-1) earned breaks at all three flights and were playing the NCAA’s last Division III national champion close. But the Cardinals started getting in gear, beginning at the third flight.
Alexis Almy and Megan Tran ran off five straight games to give the second-ranked team an 8-3 win and an early 1-0 match lead. Then at the top flight, Katie Fleischman and Venia Yeung were tied 2-2 before winning six of the next seven games.
Down a pair of match points, the Ladies’ No. 2 team of Ilana Blackwood and Victoria Vasquez outlasted Caitlin Goldberg and Kristina Yu. At one point, Kenyon’s duo led 6-3, but Wesleyan rallied with three straight games.
Tied 6-6, Blackwood and Vasquez then won the next two games to earn the team’s lone point of the contest.
Once in singles, Kenyon had some strong showings at the top three flights. Erika Oku and Daria Beshentseva played their opponents close in the first set by 6-4 and 6-3 scores, respectively. At three, Vasquez claimed a set-one win over Almy.
But it was the bottom half of the lineup that proved challenging for the Ladies.
Wesleyan bumped its match lead to 3-1 after Serim Jin’s 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 4. That was followed just a little later at six by Goldberg, who claimed another straight-sets win.
The match was then closed at No. 5 by Yu. She won the first set 6-3 and then the second 6-2.
Thielke announces retirement following NCAA run
After Tuesday’s exit from the semifinal round of the NCAA Division III women’s tennis tournament, head coach Scott Thielke gathered his team and told the Ladies the result would be his last. After 28 years with the program, he announced his retirement.
Thielke began his career at Kenyon in the 1985-86 academic year. He coached for four years before moving on to coach at his alma mater, the University of South Alabama, and then at Colgate University. He returned to Kenyon prior to the 1997-98 season and has been there since.
In his 28 years with the Ladies program, Thielke amassed a 398-180 coaching record. He guided the Ladies to 12 of their record 19 North Coast Athletic Conference titles, including titles in each of the last four seasons — not including 2020, which was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the national level, Thielke steered Ladies teams to 14 NCAA Division III Championship appearances. Five of those trips resulted in national semifinal showings and three led to national runner-up finishes. Thielke also had a dozen players make a combined 20 appearances in the NCAA Division III Singles Championships, as well as seven duos that earned bids to NCAA Division III Doubles Championships.
Fourteen of Thielke’s teams ended their seasons ranked in the nation’s top 25. Six of those teams concluded seasons with a top-10 rank.
Rabinowitz earns spot among All-NCAC selections
Kenyon College junior Andrew Rabinowitz was named to the 2021 All-North Coast Athletic Conference baseball team on Tuesday, May 25. The all-conference honor was the first of his career, and he was the lone Kenyon player named to the team.
Rabinowitz, a catcher, started all 14 games for the Lords this past season. He posted a .959 fielding percentage behind the plate with just one passed ball. He had 84 putouts and caught a pair of base-stealers.
With bat in hand, he was just as effective. In 49 at-bats, Rabinowitz posted a .388 average that included three home runs and two doubles. He walked twice, was hit by a pitch twice and posted a .434 on-base percentage. He also tallied team highs of 12 runs scored and 13 RBIs.
With the conference splitting into divisional play this season due to scheduling and traveling protocols during the pandemic, the 2021 all-conference team reflected the change with players being selected to one East Team and one West Team. Kenyon was a member of the East Division, along with Allegheny College, Hiram College, Oberlin College and The College of Wooster. In a typical year, the NCAC selects players from all member schools and votes them onto a first team, a second team and an honorable-mention slate.
The Kenyon ball club finished the abbreviated 2021 season with a 7-7 overall record, which included a 5-7 mark within NCAC East Division play.
