Box Score GAMBIER, Ohio (April 10, 2024) – The No. 14 Denison University men's tennis team traveled to nearby Kenyon College to battle the No. 30-ranked Owls in its most important North Coast Athletic Conference matchup of the season, and it was a strong showing by the Big Red who won by a final score of 7-2.
Notable Results:
Doubles
- It was the Owls' home opener, but it was the Big Red starting the match off with a win as Jacob Patterson and Andy Mackler defeated Rishil Kondapaneni and Eric Zhang by a score of 8-3 at No. 2 doubles.
- Then after Kael Shah and Zachary Portnoy fell 8-5 to Eliezer Gonzalez and Alejandro Gonzalez at No. 3 doubles, Ethan Green and Colin Gramley pulled out a win in a tiebreaker and gave Denison a 2-1 lead with an 8-7 (7-5) victory over Gianluca Bocanegra and Paulo Pocasangre at No. 1 doubles.
Singles
- In singles, Ryan Patrick defeated Bocanegra 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 4 spot before Pocasangre, the 10th-ranked singles player in the Central Region, beat Green, the sixth-ranked player in the region, 7-5, 6-3 in the top spot.
- That made it a 3-2 Denison lead before Shah, the seventh-ranked player in the region, defeated Kondapaneni 7-5, 7-5 at No. 2 singles to bring the Big Red to within a point of clinching the win.
- That clinching win came on the next point as Patterson, the fifth-ranked singles player in the region, came back to defeat A. Gonzalez in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 3 singles.
- Starting with Shah's win, the Big Red would win each of the final four singles matches as Denison closed the night out with a 6-1, 6-2 win by Mackler over E. Gonzalez at No. 5 singles before Portnoy pulled out a win in a third-set super tiebreaker, 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4), over Rakkan Audeh at No. 6 singles.
Team Records:
- In addition to improving to 11-3 overall on the season and 4-0 in the NCAC, No. 14 Denison also extends its season-long winning streak to six straight games and improves to 5-2 this season against nationally-ranked teams in NCAA Division III.
- No. 30 Kenyon, meanwhile, fell to .500 overall (7-7), 2-1 in the NCAC and 2-7 against nationally-ranked teams.
Record Book Watch:
Career Doubles Wins:
- Mackler, who has already set Denison's career record for combined wins and singles wins this weekend, now has 75 career doubles wins, tying the record set by Kevin Newman (2005-08).
Single-Season Records:
- Mackler (22-2) and Shah (22-3) are tied for fifth in singles wins in one season. The record is 31 set by Andreas Chapides in 2023.
- Mackler (44-4) is also tied for third in combined wins in one season. The record is 55 set by Tim Cianciola in 2022.
Next Up: Denison will be put to the text in its next matchup at No. 8 nationally-ranked Washington University in St. Louis. The Big Red and the Bears will battle starting at 10 a.m. Central Time on Friday, April 12, in St. Louis, Missouri.
