Denison dropped its North Coast Athletic Conference opener to DePauw, 7-2, on Sunday afternoon in Granville, Ohio.

The Tigers grabbed the early lead thanks to a clean sweep in doubles play.  DePauw cruised to victories at the first and third flights with scores of 8-4 and 8-3, respectively.  At No. 2 doubles, Casey Cempre and Andrew Marczak gave David Moss and Reid Garlock all they could handle.  Through 16 points, the two squads were all square at 8-8.  The DePauw tandem completed the sweep after winning the tiebreaker over Cempre and Marczak.

In singles action, Marczak and sophomore Graham Gettel picked up DU's two victories.  Marczak won a three-set battle with Chris Bertolini at third singles.  Marczak took the early edge with a 6-4 win in set one.  However, a 7-5 victory by Bertolini in the second tied the match at 1-1.  In the final set, the Big Red junior edged his opponent via 10-7 score.

Gettel improved to 8-8 on the year with a straight-set win over Garlock at No. 5 singles.  Gettel doubled up Garlock, 6-3, in the opening set, before completing the sweep with a 6-4 win in the second.

Denison falls to 7-6 and 0-1 in NCAC West Division play, while the Tigers improved to 7-12 overall and 2-0 in league action.  The Big Red opens the final week of the regular season on Wednesday when they travel to Wooster for a nonconference tilt with the Fighting Scots.  Match time is slated for 4:30 p.m.