Lords' NCAA tournament run comes to a halt

GAMBIER, Ohio (May 9, 2005) The Kenyon College Lords tennis team ran out of magic Sunday and was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship. One day after pulling off a stunner over No. 8 DePauw University, the Lords' tournament run came to halt with a 4-1 loss to the Kalamazoo College Hornets.

Kenyon, ranked No. 23 in the nation, played superb tennis in the doubles matches against the Hornets, who were ranked as the No. 10 team in the nation. Senior Joe Freeman and sophomore Sean Stewart completed an upset at No. 2 doubles, as they posted an 8-5 win over Kalamazoo's team of Matt Harding and Tim Hubbard, who entered the match with a No. 15 national ranking in doubles play.

At No. 1 doubles, Kenyon seniors Borko Tesic and Mike Herrick faced the daunting task of challenging Michael Malvitz and Julian Seelan, a Kalamazoo duo ranked as the No. 1 doubles team in the country. Tesic and Herrick put up a valiant fight and sent the match to a tie-breaker before surrendering in a 9-8 defeat.

Despite playing hard, the Lords dropped the third doubles match and the overall team doubles points. Kalamazoo rode that momentum into the singles matches and finished off Kenyon. The Hornets took three of the four singles matches that were played to completion, bringing an early end to the match.

The only Kenyon player to earn a point was Tesic, who claimed a 6-4, 6-3 over Malvitz in the No. 1 singles match. That win shored up Tesic's chances of making the upcoming national singles tournament in Santa Cruz, California.

The Lords, who were eliminated by the Hornets (21-6) in last year's NCAA championship as well, concluded their 2005 campaign with an overall record of 16-6.