GRANVILLE, Ohio (May 1, 2023) – The Denison University men's tennis team will continue its season this weekend after earning the North Coast Athletic Conference's automatic bid into the 2023 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament. The Big Red will travel to Case Western Reserve University, where they will compete in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against the winner of Transylvania University and the University of Mary Washington on Saturday, May 6.

The 44 teams selected to compete in the 2023 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship will play a single-elimination tournament with the first-, second- and third-rounds played at regional sites, Friday-Sunday, May 5-7, or Thursday-Saturday, May 4-6.

The Big Red will enter this year's NCAA Tournament as the 14th-ranked team in NCAA Division III, and are the fifth-ranked team in the Central Region. The Big Red are 25-3 overall, which is a new program record for wins in a singles season. This will be Denison's third straight and 11th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

In 2022 at the NCAA Tournament, Denison won its second-round matchup as the Big Red defeated Sewanee by a final score of 5-2 in St. Louis, Missouri. It was Denison's second win in program history at the national tournament and was its first win since defeating Illinois Wesleyan University 4-0 in the first round in 1997. The 2022 season then came to a close in the third round (Sweet Sixteen) of the NCAA Tournament as No. 7 nationally-ranked Washington University in St. Louis defeated the No. 10-ranked Big Red by a score of 5-2.

Senior Jack Bulger (20-6) and freshman Jacob Patterson (23-4) are currently ranked No. 11 and No. 12, respectively, in the Central Region for singles while freshman Andreas Chapides (30-2) is the new Denison record holder for singles wins in one season. Senior Marc-Lennart Harms (10-10); juniors Andy Mackler (20-5) and Zachary Portnoy (18-4); and freshmen Ethan Green (21-5), Kael Shah (10-6) and Anthony Payiavlas (9-2) have each contributed mightily to Denison's success this season as well.

In doubles, Bulger and his partner, Harms, are ranked No. 5 in the Central Region and are 13-6 overall together and 9-3 in the No. 1 doubles position.

Portnoy's 25 total doubles wins this season are tied for the second most in a single season in program history. He is tied with two current teammates, Bulger and Mackler, who both earned 25 doubles wins a year ago, and is now just three wins behind the leader, Tim Cianciola, with 28 doubles wins set last season. This season, Portnoy and Mackler are a combined 13-2 together, including a perfect 6-0 at No. 2 doubles and 5-2 at No. 3 doubles. Denison's final doubles pair, Green and fellow-freshman Camden French, are 15-4 together overall and are 12-4 in dual matches with four wins in all three doubles positions.

Potential Opponents:

Transylvania (9-9) won a thrilling 5-4 match against Hanover College in the finals of the Heartland College Athletic Conference (HCAC) tournament. Chris Kaufmann was named the Most Outstanding Player for the HCAC Tournament following the win. This will be Transylvania's fifth appearance in the national tournament. Denison is 3-0 all-time against Transylvania, but has not matched up against the Pioneers since 2001.

Mary Washington (10-9) earned its spot in the tournament as an at-large selection after winning the first five singles decisions against UC Santa Cruz to win the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Championship. The Eagles are ranked No. 12 in the Atlantic South Region and feature the No. 10-ranked (Rishi Charan Shankar) and No. 19-ranked (Andrew Watson) singles players in the region, in addition to the No. 8-ranked (Charan Shankar & Watson) doubles pair. Mary Washington is appearing in the NCAA tournament for the 22nd time in program history. Denison is 0-3 all-time against Mary Washington, but the two teams have not played since 2015.

The winner of Denison and Transylvania/Mary Washington will advance to the third round on Sunday, May 7, where they will play the winner of host-school and No. 1 nationally-ranked Case Western Reserve University (28-4) and either seven-time national champion Kalamazoo College (11-7) or Ohio Northern University (13-7).

Case, the two-time national runner-up, went undefeated this season against NCAA Division III opponents (23-0) and made history after winning the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship for the first time with a 5-1 victory over third-ranked Washington University (Mo.). Denison fell 7-2 in neutral-court action against Case earlier this season (Mar. 31) and fell 5-4 at home against the Spartans early last season. Case is ranked No. 1 in the Central Region.
 

2023 NCAA DIII Men's Tennis Championship Selections
Interactive Bracket