Fredericksburg, VA – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor tennis players Mallory and Megan Aarhus made history when they stepped on the court for an NCAA Division III Individual National Championships First Round Match on Friday. But the sisters bid to extend their stay in the national tournament through the weekend came to an end with a gritty, three-set loss to Kenyon College. The Aarhus sisters were beaten by Kenyon's Prita Kidder and Amy Schlessman 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 at the Battleground Tennis Complex.
The Aarhus twins roared out of the gate, winning the first three games to grab a 3-0 lead. The two teams would then split the next two games to give the Cru's #1 doubles team a 4-1 edge. Megan and Mallory would then win two of the final three games to take a 6-2 victory in the first set.
“It is a great atmosphere here and then to go out and win that first set was very exciting,” Mallory Aarhus said. “We really had the feeling that we can do this and we can play here.”
Kidder and Schlessman answered with a similar start in the second set, grabbing a quick 3-0 lead. The two teams would once again split the fourth and fifth games, but the early hole was too much for the Aarhus sisters to dig their way out of in a 6-2 second set loss.
The Kenyon College duo would once again open strong in the third and deciding set, taking a 2-1 lead. Megan and Mallory would battle back to close to within 4-2, but Kidder and Schlessman would add a service break in the final three games to hold on for the 6-3 third set win and the victory in the match.
“It was so exciting to be here and then to go out and win that first set,” Megan Aarhus said. “Now we know what to expect and we just want to keep getting better and be back here next year.”
The loss ends the season for Megan and Mallory Aarhus at 25-3 overall at #1 doubles. The sisters became the first UMHB tennis players in the history of the men's and women's tennis programs to qualify for an NCAA National Championships. The Aarhus twins are also the first American Southwest Conference players to qualify for the NCAA Division III Individual National Championships.
“We needed to be aggressive and get the net and I thought we really did a good job of that in the first set,” UMHB head coach James Cohagan said. “We had chances to win in the second and third sets and break their serve and just missed. We played a really good, long first game in the third set, but could never put it away and then Kenyon really served well from there on out, so you have to give them a lot of credit."
Kidder and Schlessman will now advance to tomorrow's quarterfinals to face Julia Browne and Meghan McCooey of Tufts. The Tufts duo advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Lauren Caire and Ellen Yeatman of Washington & Lee University.
