The 33rd-ranked DePauw Tigers remained perfect in North Coast Athletic Conference West Division action following a 5-4 win over the 35th-ranked Big Red on Sunday in Granville.

The Tigers held a 2-1 lead at the completion of doubles play. Denison seniors Jeffrey LoDuca and Casey Cempre scored DU's lone point at second doubles with an 8-3 win over Chris Bertolini and Dan Rodefeld, who entered the match ranked 15th in the central region. DePauw won the third flight 8-2 and picked up an important point at the No. 1 when Eric Vannatta and Alex Kaczkowski knocked off Grant Veltman and Jackson O'Gorman-Bean, 8-5.

That win at first doubles proved to be the deciding point as the two squad would split the six singles flights. Veltman earned his eight win at the top flight and 13th singles victory overall after knocking off Bertolini. The DU senior, who entered the match ranked 12th in the region, defeated Bertolini, the No. 10 player in the central region, in three sets. After dropping the opening set 6-2, Veltman rebounded with a 6-3 decision in the second. The final set went to a 12-point break that saw Veltman outscore Bertolini 8-6 in the breaker.

The Big Red's other two wins came at the third and sixth flights. Cempre improved to 5-1 at No. 3 singles with a 6- 2, 6-1 win over Rodefeld, while Owen Smith posted his sixth-straight singles win following a 6-0, 3-6, 7-5 decision over Rico Lumanlan. With the win, Smith improved to 12-2 at the sixth flight and earned his team-leading 15th win of the year.

Denison falls to 8-9 on the year and 1-1 in NCAC West play, while DePauw moved to 9-9 and 3-0 in the division. The Big Red will wrap up the regular season next week with a pair of NCAC West matches. DU opens the week on Tuesday at Wittenberg (4:30 p.m.) before wrapping up the regular season at home against Wabash on Saturday at 10 a.m.