Box Score GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 27, 2024) – For the second year in a row, the Denison University men's tennis team swept Wabash College 5-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.
Notable Results:
Denison 5, Wabash 0:
Doubles
Singles
- Green defeated Cole Borden 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
- Mackler clinched the win with his 6-0, 6-0 decision over Rin at No. 5 singles.
Team Records:
- With the win, No. 9 nationally-ranked and No. 3 regionally-ranked Denison improves to 18-4 overall on the season.
- Wabash, which was coming off a 5-4 win over the College of Wooster in Friday's quarterfinals, ends its season at 13-10.
Record Book Watch:
Single-Season Combined Wins:
- Mackler (55-5) is tied for the program record for combined wins in one season. Tim Cianciola originally set the record in 2022.
Senior Day:
- Denison also recognized four seniors during its Senior Day banquet held inside the Mitchell Center following its win in the semifinals.
- Milan Gonela is 12-1 in singles and 10-3 in doubles this season while for his career, he is 35-11 in singles, 21-11 in doubles and 56-22 overall.
- Nadeem Jones is 10-2 in singles and 4-3 in doubles this season while for his career, he is 23-5 in singles, 14-6 in doubles and 37-11 overall. A 2024 Denison President's Medalist, Jones is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23), was a member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and was a 2022-23 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee. He has also been a three-time Denison Top-50 Scholar Athlete, earning the Ted Barclay Top-Five Award in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, he earned the Dr. Larry Scheiderer Award for the highest-ranking senior varsity male scholar-athlete, by GPA, and earned the Student-Athlete Diversity and Inclusion Award for his work with the DeStress Tennis Fest.
- With a 155-37 career record between both singles and doubles, Andy Mackler is Denison's all-time winningest player, a mark he reached during Denison's 9-0 win at Wittenberg University on April 6, 2024. He has also posted career records of 72-17 in singles and 83-20 in doubles, both of which are program records for career wins. As a senior, Mackler is 25-3 in singles and 30-2 in doubles while in dual matches, he is 15-3 in singles and 21-0 in doubles. With his doubles win vs. Wittenberg on Friday in the NCAC quarterfinals, Mackler set Denison's single-season record for doubles wins, and with his two wins earlier today in the semifinals, he is tied for the record for combined wins in one season with 55. Mackler is a four-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection, earning second-team all-conference honors in singles and third-team honors in doubles last season after going 21-5 in singles and 18-8 in doubles. He has been named the NCAC Athlete of the Week twice in his career (4/11/22, 3/20/23) and was a member of the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Team. He is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23), was a member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and was a 2022-23 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee. Mackler created and co-hosted the DeStress Tennis Fest, which was designed as a mental health event open to the entire Denison community (students, faculty, staff, and families) and earned the 2024 Student-Athlete Diversity and Inclusion Award at the 12th Annual James T. Glerum '82 Top-50 Scholar-Athlete Honors Celebration. Mackler is also one of four finalists across the nation for the 2024 ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award.
- Zachary Portnoy has posted career records of 33-10 in singles, 44-15 in doubles and 77-25 overall at Denison. As a senior, he is 15-6 in singles and 18-8 in doubles, including a record of 10-3 at No. 2 doubles. In his first season with the Big Red in 2023, Zachary was 18-4 in singles, won the second-most double matches in a single-season in program history at 26-7, and earned Third-Team All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors in doubles.
Next Up: With an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Team Championship on the line, Denison will take on second-seeded Kenyon College starting at 12 p.m. on Sunday, April 28. This will be the sixth tournament out of the last seven contested that the two teams will meet for the title. In its semifinal match, Kenyon defeated sixth-seeded Oberlin College by a final score of 5-0. During the first meeting this season between Denison and Kenyon back on April 10 in Gambier, Ohio, the Big Red earned a 7-2 victory.
