ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (March 14, 2023) – The No. 10 nationally-ranked Denison University men's tennis team improved to 10-1 on the season with three more wins during their Spring Break trip to Florida on Tuesday. The Big Red began the day at Sanlando Park and earned a 9-0 sweep over Carthage College in the morning followed by a 7-2 victory over No. 30 Skidmore College in the middle of the day. Then in the evening, the Big Red headed back to the USTA National Campus to take on NCAA Division I Niagara University in a match that saw Denison come out on top by a score of 5-2.
Notable Results:
Match #1 – No. 10 Denison 9, Carthage 0:
Doubles
Singles
- Harms won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.
- Jacob Patterson earned a competitive 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win at No. 2 singles.
- Andreas Chapides won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.
- Mackler won by a score of 6-3, 6-0 at No. 4 singles
- Nickawn Namdar was a 6-3, 6-2 winner at No. 5 singles.
- Lastly, Anthony Payiavlas pulled out a three-set comeback win in the six spot, winning 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.
Match #2 – No. 10 Denison 7, No. 30 Skidmore 2:
Doubles
- Mackler and Zachary Portnoy (No. 2 doubles) and French and Green (No. 3 doubles) both won by a score of 8-1.
- At No. 1 doubles, however, Bulger and Harms came up just short by a score of 8-7 (7-1).
Singles
- Denison won the first four singles matches to finish as Chapides won 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 6 spot, Green won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4 singles, Patterson was victorious 6-1, 6-3 in the three hole, and Portnoy won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5 singles.
- At No. 1 singles, Bulger earned a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 comeback win.
Match #3 – No. 10 Denison 5, Niagara 2:
Singles
- The two teams opted to play singles first due to court availability.
- Denison got on the board first thanks to a 6-4, 6-1 win by Chapides at No. 6 singles.
- Then with the match tied at 1-1, Bulger pulled out a tiebreak win in the second set to win 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 2 singles, and then Harms won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 singles to give Denison a 3-1 lead.
- Mackler then won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 singles to make it 4-1 Big Red and clinch the win.
- Kael Shah lost in three sets at No. 3 singles, falling 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.
Doubles
- With the match already wrapped up, Denison changed up its doubles lineup but still managed to win the point as Gramley and Payiavalas won 7-5 at No. 2 doubles.
- In the deciding doubles match in the No. 3 spot, Portnoy and Daniel Garcia pulled out the tiebreak win 7-6 (7-3).
Records:
- Tuesday marked Denison's (10-1) first-ever matchups against Carthage (5-3) and Niagara (3-7) while the match against Skidmore (5-2) was the first for the Big Red since 1993 and was Denison's first win over the Thoroughbreds in three tries.
Next Up: On day three of its Spring Break trip on Wednesday, March 15, Denison will take on Ithaca College at 11:30 a.m. at Red Bug Lake Park in Casselberry, Florida, before its final match in the Sunshine State against NCAA Division II Dallas Baptist University at 6:30 p.m. at the Lake Cane Tennis Center in Orlando.
