WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
GILBERT, Ariz. — The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released its weekly ranking on Wednesday and the Kenyon College men’s team, boosted by a strong performance last weekend, moved up to No. 9 among all NCAA Division III teams.
The Owls, who sat at No. 17 in the previous ITA ranking, currently own a 13-2 record. The last three of those wins were earned in Cleveland, where the Owls defeated No. 21-ranked Washington and Lee University and No. 10-ranked Washington University in Saint Louis, both on Saturday. Sunday, the team got up early and coasted to a 4-0 win over Hobart College.
Within the ITA Central Region, the Owls own a No. 4 rank, behind Denison University, University of Chicago, and Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, within the Central Region, Kenyon junior Paulo Pocasangre Kreling moved up to the No. 2 spot for singles play. In doubles play, he and sophomore Alejandro Gonzalez have a No. 8 rank.
The top-10 team rank is the best for Kenyon since January of 2020, when the team was ranked at No. 11. It also marked the first time the team cracked the top-10 since the ITA poll released on November 3, 2015.
The ITA’s ranking system utilizes an algorithm based on an accumulation of win points and loss points, accounting for a win-loss record, the strength of schedule, and the depth/significance of wins and losses. As the season progresses, the value of each win and loss adjusts to reflect the most recent ranking of the opponent.
The Owls have a bit of a break ahead of them, but they’ll resume competition on April 11 and 12 with home conference matches against Wittenberg University and Ohio Wesleyan University.