GRANVILLE, Ohio (May 10, 2024) – Denison University sophomore Jacob Patterson has been named the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Year while the sophomore duo of Ethan Green and Kael Shah were named the NCAC Doubles Team of the Year. In addition, Head Coach David Schilling and the Big Red were named the NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year for the second time in his first four seasons leading the Big Red.

First-Team All-NCAC (Singles):

Patterson was the 2022 NCAC Newcomer of the Year and one year later, is the NCAC Player of the Year. Patterson earns his second-straight First-Team All-NCAC selection for singles after accumulating a 22-4 overall record in singles so far, going 15-2 in dual matches (flights 1-3), combining for a 10-0 record between No. 1 and No. 2 singles, and finishing 3-0 in NCAC matches. He has put together records of 4-0 from the top flight, 6-0 at No. 2 and a 5-2 mark in the No. 3 flight. Patterson was named the NCAC Athlete of the Week this season after going 4-0 in a week in which the Big Red collected a 9-0 win over No. 19 Washington and Lee University (Mar. 11) and fell 5-4 at No. 1 Emory University (Mar. 13). Against the top-ranked Eagles, Patterson pulled out a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) three-set comeback victory over the No. 2-ranked singles player in Division III at No. 1 singles, which tied the match at 4-4. Patterson is currently tied for seventh in program history for singles wins in one season and is ranked No. 15 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national singles rankings. His highest national ranking this season was No. 13.

This is Denison's fourth-straight and 13th overall NCAC Player of the Year award after Tim Cianciola in 2021 and 2022 and Jack Bulger in 2023.

After being named Third-Team All-NCAC for singles as a freshman, Green moved up to the first-team this year after going 21-8 overall and 13-4 in dual matches (flights 1-3) so far this season while also finishing 5-1 in NCAC matches. Green is 5-2 at No. 1 singles, 4-0 at No. 2 singles and 4-2 at No. 3 singles so far this year. Green was named the NCAC Athlete of the Week after going 3-0 in singles in wins over No. 30 Kenyon (Apr. 10), No. 8 Washington University in St. Louis (Apr. 12) and Oberlin College (Apr. 14). In the win over the Bears, Green pulled out a three-set victory (6-4, 3-6, 6-3) over second-ranked Jared Phillips at No. 1 singles. Green is currently tied for ninth in program history for singles wins in one season. Green has been ranked as high as No. 19 in singles by the ITA this season and is currently ranked No. 34.

Shah rounds out Denison's sophomore trio to be named first-team all-conference this season after going 27-4 overall, 16-3 in dual matches (flights 1-3) and 9-1 at No. 1 singles, all while finishing a perfect 6-0 in NCAC matches. Shah was named the NCAC Athlete of the Week earlier this season after going 4-0 as the Big Red defeated the College of Wooster (Mar. 29) 9-0 and defeated nationally-ranked Carnegie Mellon University (Mar. 31) by a score of 8-1. Against the No. 37 Tartans, Shah and Green won 8-4 at the top flight in doubles before Shah recorded a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 comeback win at No. 3 singles to hand his opponent his first loss in seven matches. Shah is tied for second place in program history for singles wins in one season and has ranked No. 9 in the ITA singles rankings over each of the last three weeks.

Second-Team All-NCAC (Singles):

Senior Andy Mackler is now a three-time All-NCAC selection in singles (second-team: '23, '23; third-team: '22). With a 157-37 career record between both singles and doubles, Mackler is Denison's all-time winningest player, a mark he reached during Denison's 9-0 win at Wittenberg on April 6, 2024. He has also posted career records of 73-17 in singles and 84-20 in doubles, both of which are program records for career wins. As a senior, Mackler is 26-3 in singles and 31-2 in doubles while in dual matches, he is 16-3 in singles (flights 3-6) and 22-0 in doubles (flights 2-3). With his doubles win vs. Wittenberg in the NCAC quarterfinals, Mackler set Denison's single-season record for doubles wins. Then against Kenyon in the NCAC Tournament Championship, he set the program record for combined wins in one season with 57. He was named the NCAC Athlete of the Week earlier this season after accounting for two of Denison's four wins against the 2022 NCAA Division III National Champion, the University of Chicago (Feb. 10), winning with Patterson and No. 2 doubles and coming back to win 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-1) at No. 6 singles. In the most recent ITA regional rankings, Mackler has broken into the top-20 among singles players in the Central Region.

Third-Team All-NCAC (Singles):

Also in singles, senior Zachary Portnoy and junior Ryan Patrick were both named third-team all-conference. Portnoy is 15-6 overall, 9-4 in dual matches (flights 3-6), and was 3-0 in NCAC matches while Patrick, who was also named third-team all-conference back in 2022, is 10-4 in dual matches (flights 2-6), is a combined 7-0 between No. 2 and No. 3 singles, and was 5-0 in NCAC matches.

First-Team All-NCAC (Doubles):

In doubles, Green and Shah were named the Doubles Team of the Year and were first-team all-conference after accumulating records of 18-7 overall, 11-4 in dual matches (all at No. 1 doubles) and 6-0 in NCAC matches so far this season. Shah and Green are ranked No. 18 in doubles in the ITA after beginning the year ranked at No. 8. Green was also named first-team all-conference in doubles as a freshman last season. This is the fourth overall doubles team honor for the Big Red.

Second-Team All-NCAC (Doubles):

The pairing of Mackler and Patterson was named second-team all-conference after going 19-0 overall and 15-0 in dual matches (flights 2-3) so far this season and finishing 3-0 in NCAC matches. The duo is also 10-0 at No. 3 doubles. Mackler and Patterson began the season ranked No. 9 in the Central Region in doubles and are currently ranked No. 10 in the region. Mackler earns his third-career all-conference selection in doubles after previously being named to the second-team in 2022 and the third-team in 2023.

Third-Team All-NCAC (Doubles):

Lastly, Colin Gramley and Green were named third-team all-conference for doubles after going 8-4 overall and 6-2 in dual matches (No. 1 doubles) so far. Gramley was named second-team all-conference in doubles back in 2022 while for Green, his two all-conference honors for doubles this season gives him three all-conference honors for doubles in his career. Green is 26-11 overall in doubles this season, which is tied for the third most doubles win in one season in program history.

Coaching Staff of the Year:

In addition to the player awards, Coach Schilling and assistants Chris Landauer and Grant MacPherson were named the NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding the 11th-ranked Big Red to 19-4 overall record and for the second year in a row, a perfect 7-0 record in conference play. In fact, Denison is a perfect 24-0 in conference matches in Coach Schilling's four years at the helm of the program. The Big Red also captured their 16th NCAC Championship title and 11th NCAC Tournament title this season and enter the 2024 NCAA Tournament with a first-round bye. Coach Schilling's tenure has seen the Big Red win their first conference title since 2006, win at match at the national tournament for the first time since 1997, and win back-to-back matches at the national tournament for the first time in program history.

This is the third NCAC Coach of the Year honor for Schilling after claiming the award in 1995 as the head coach at Kenyon College. Between his time at Kenyon and Denison, Schilling currently sports a Division III coaching record of 165-51 (.764).

After winning the regular-season championship and their fourth consecutive NCAC Tournament Championship this year, the Big Red will compete in the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament and will begin second-round action on Saturday, May 11, in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

The Big Red will enter this year's NCAA Tournament as the 11th-ranked team in NCAA Division III, and are ranked third in the Central Region. The Big Red will be going for their third-straight 20-win season and third-straight NCAA Third Round (Sweet 16) appearance this weekend.
 
NCAC Release