ST. LOUIS, Mo. (May 14, 2022) – The No. 10 nationally-ranked Denison University men's tennis team won its second-round matchup at the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, as the Big Red defeated Sewanee by a final score of 5-2.

Denison improved to 23-3 overall on the season, setting a new program record for wins in a single season. The previous program record of 22 wins occurred in 1997 when the Big Red last won a match at the NCAA Tournament, until Saturday that is.

Making their second straight national tournament appearance after a 15-year absence before that, the Big Red earned their second win in program history at the national tournament, and their first win since defeating Illinois Wesleyan University 4-0 in the first round in 1997.

In addition to the team accomplishments set on Saturday, Denison senior Tim Cianciola (2019-2022) has set the program's new record for singles wins in a career with 64. He is now a combined 64-15 in singles matches in his career at Denison, breaking the previous program record of 63 career wins set by Lee Hays from 1996-1999.
 
Notable Results:
No. 10 Denison 5, No. 33 Sewanee 2
Doubles

• Cianciola and Jack Bulger got Denison started with an 8-3 at No. 1 doubles over Peyton Erck and Quinn Wicklund.
• However, Blake Eason and Marc-Lennart Harms came up short by a score of 8-4 against Jackson Davis and Gil Weston at No. 3 doubles.
• Lastly, at No. 2 doubles, Colin Gramley and Andy Mackler trailed 7-6 before coming back to knot it up at 7-7 against Noah Holsclaw and Liam Baer. Unfortunately, the Big Red duo dropped the tiebreaker by a score of 7-1 as Denison fell behind 2-1 after doubles.

Singles

• In singles, the Big Red were dominant as Cianciola won 7-5, 6-4 at No. 1 singles over Holsclaw, Harms won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 singles over Matt Barnett, and Milan Gonela was victorious 6-3, 6-4 over Davis at No. 6 singles to bring the Big Red to within a point of clinching the match.
• Shortly after Gonela's win, the clincher came from Bulger with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Erck at No. 2 singles.

 
Next Up: Denison will return to the Tao Tennis Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sunday, May 15, for the third round (Sweet Sixteen) of the 2022 NCAA Division III Championship. The Big Red will face off against tournament-host and No. 7 nationally-ranked Washington University in St. Louis at 10 a.m. Central Standard Time.