Division II Ohio Dominican handed the Denison men's tennis team an 8-1 setback in its season opener on Tuesday afternoon in Granville.

The Panthers carried a 3-0 lead into singles play after sweeping all three doubles flights. ODU won first and second singles by matching 8-2 scores. Ben Short and Ryan Bibo hung tough with the Ohio Dominican's third doubles team of Stijn Van der Zee and Gerardo Perez before falling 8-6.

Senior Jeffrey LoDuca broke up the Panthers' shutout bid with a dominating straight-set victory over Alex Schroeder at No. 4 singles. LoDuca cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory in his first single match of the season.

Denison falls to 0-1 on the year, while Ohio Dominican moves to 1-0.  The Big Red continues their fall season this weekend at the Oberlin Invitational. The two-day event begins Saturday and runs through Sunday.