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GAMBIER, Ohio — Jumping back into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the first time since 2019, the Kenyon College Owls claimed an at-large bid in the field of 44 teams.
Although it’s been a few years since playing on the national stage, the Owls are certainly not unfamiliar with it. Their upcoming appearance in the national bracket will be the program’s 24th since making their debut in 1992.
Kenyon, which has an 18-5 record and a No. 13 rank from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), played well enough during the 2024-25 regular season that it earned a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament. The Owls will await the winner of the first-round match between Haverford College and Illinois Institute of Technology.
The Kenyon men are part of a six-team pod hosted by Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Case, which also earned a first-round bye, will await the winner of a first-round match between Whitman College and Ohio Northern University.
Like Kenyon, Haverford also earned an at-large berth after falling in their conference championship. The Garnet got in after posting a 15-5 record, and Haverford is ranked just behind Kenyon at No. 16 in the ITA standings. On the other side, Illinois Tech took the automatic bid for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, winning the team’s fifth tournament title over the last four seasons. The Scarlet Hawks head into the NCAA bracket with a 12-9 overall record.
The first-round match between Whitman and ONU will be played at 10 a.m. on Friday. Haverford and Illinois Tech will follow at 2 p.m., with the winner moving on to face Kenyon at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Saturday’s winners will play a third-round match at noon on Sunday.