No. 20 Denison tops No. 39 Women's Tennis in battle of national powers
April 25, 2026
GRANVILLE — No. 20-ranked Denison outlasted the No. 39-ranked Ohio Northern women's tennis team 6-1 in a battle of nationally-ranked teams on Saturday.
The Basics
- Records: #39 Ohio Northern (16-4 Overall), #20 Denison (16-5 Overall).
- Venue: Denison Tennis Courts - Granville, Ohio.
Match Highlights
- The match was competitive throughout, with the Polar Bears winning the No. 6 singles court and the No. 2 doubles court.
- sophomore Leah Schleibaum (West Chester/Lakota West) won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 singles to score ONU's point.
- Senior Jenna Bell (Latrobe, Pa.) and sophomore Caroline Robinson (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) won 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.
- Bell and freshman Audrey Austin (Perry) dropped tight 3-set matches at Nos. 1 and 5 singles, respectively.
- DU took the doubles point by winning courts 1 and 3.
Notables
- ONU won its second consecutive OAC Regular Season title on Wednesday and will be the No. 1 seed in the OAC Tournament May 1-2 at Mason, Ohio.
- Denison leads the all-time series with ONU by a 5-0 margin.
- Thus far this season, senior Abby Cruser (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) leads the Polar Bears with 36 victories, going a team-best 21-8 in singles and 15-12 in doubles.
- Senior Jamie Hurst (Granger, Ind./Penn) is second with an 18-9 singles mark.
- Bell has a team-best 18 doubles wins.
- Cruser is 136-80 overall in her career. She is 5th all-time in ONU history with 77 singles wins and is ninth with 134 overall wins.
- Bell is 135-78 overall in her career. Her 68 singles wins leaves her just two wins short from cracking the school's top-10 in that category. She ranks 10th all-time with 135 overall wins.
- Hurst is 121-65 overall in her career. Her 70 singles wins puts her tied for eighth all-time in ONU history in that category.
- Ohio Northern is in its 53rd season of women's tennis with a 669-279-1 record, a winning percentage of .705.
- Fourth-year head coach Sean Swisher is 69-20 at the helm of the ONU women's tennis team, a winning percentage of .775.
Up Next
- The Polar Bears will return to action May 1 at the OAC Tournament semifinals at 1 pm at the Lindner Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
