The Denison men's tennis team kicked off the 2011-12 campaign with an impressive 9-0 victory over Division II, Ohio Dominican University on Wednesday in Granville, Ohio.

The Big Red took a commanding 3-0 lead in the match after sweeping doubles competition.  Last year's NCAA Tournament qualifiers Tyler Cempre and Matt McErlean opened their senior seasons with a convincing 8-2 decision over Claude Badowski and Igor Carvalho.  Senior Tim Martin and freshman Shankar Rajupet posted an 8-6 win at second doubles, while Juan Guerra and rookie Grant Veltman were victorious at No. 3 doubles (8-4).

In singles action, senior Tom Cawood dominated the Panthers' Tyler Johnston 6-1, 6-0 at the first flight, while first-year Casey Cempre won his Big Red debut at third singles (6-2, 6-0).  McErlean won a three-set battle (5-7, 6-1, 10-4) against Carvalho at the second flight, while Veltman, Guerra and Rajupet posted victories at fourth through sixth singles.

Denison (1-0) returns to action on Sept. 22 when they travel to St. Louis, Mo. for the ITA Central Regional Championships hosted by Washington (Mo.).