GRANVILLE, Ohio – Denison men's tennis will continue their remarkable season this Saturday, May 15 after earning an automatic bid into 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament. The Big Red will travel to the University of Chicago for the tournament's second round where they will face off with No. 13 Gustavus Adolphus College at 11 a.m.
This will be Denison's ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first since 2006 when they faced fellow NCAC foe DePauw University in the opening round. This will be the fourth time that the Big Red will match up with Gustavus Adolphus in the national tournament, last facing the Gusties in 1999 where they suffered a 4-3 loss in the opening round.
Highlighted by an overall record of 10-2 and their first NCAC Championship since 2006, the Big Red enter this year's NCAA Tournament as the 27
th-ranked team in the country and sixth-best team in the NCAA Division III Central Region. Denison is led by the top singles player in the central region, junior
Tim Cianciola, who has posted an overall singles record of 8-1, all in the top flight, as well as an eight-match winning streak and a 4-0 record against NCAC East competition. As a freshman in 2019, Cianciola earned first-team All-NCAC honors in both singles and doubles play and was named the NCAC Newcomer of the Year.
Cianciola and teammate
Jack Bulger are also ranked as one of the top doubles tandems in the central region, thanks to a perfect 7-0 record in No. 1 doubles this season, as well as a 3-0 record in conference divisional play. Bulger also boasts an impressive singles record of 6-2 in 2021, including a perfect 5-0 mark in No. 2 singles.
Rostering six different players who have recorded five or more singles wins on the season, freshman
Andy Mackler leads the way with a 10-2 singles record while also holding a 9-1 mark in doubles play. Senior
Jacob Dennen has combined for a 10-1 record across doubles and singles this season, including a perfect 4-0 doubles record with
Akshat Agarwal. Sophomore
Marc-Lennart Harms brings nine singles wins into this year's NCAA Tournament, including eight wins in his last nine matches.
Gustavus Adolphus enters the tournament at 16-2 overall after winning the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title for the 10
th-straight year and 13
th overall. This will also be their 33
rd appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament in program history. The Gusties are led by Nick Aney who is ranked as the third-best singles player in the central region with an overall record of 3-4. Aney and Alex Budde are the third-best doubles team in the central region after tallying a doubles record of 10-3.
The winner of Denison and Gustavus Adolphus will advance to the third round on Sunday, May 16 where they will play the winner of Case Western Reserve and either St. Scholastica or Illinois Tech.
