Saint Peter, Minn.- The No. 5 Denison men's tennis team faced tough competition in their 5-2 loss to No.1 University of Chicago in the ITA Indoor Team Championships Semifinals. The Big Red dropped to 2-1 for the season, while the Maroons improved to 8-0 and advance to the championship match, where they will take on No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Despite falling to the University of Chicago, Denison came out strong, winning two of the three doubles matches to go up 1-0 heading into singles play. In doubles play, Colin Gramley and Jacob Patterson earned a definitive win over the Maroon's Emil Grantcharov and Derek Hsieh with a final score of 6-3. UChicago would knot the score at one after winning court three; however, Ethan Green and Kael Shah held their ground and defeated Andrei Leonov and Pat Otero 7-6 (7-3) on court one.

In singles play, the Maroons overtook the Big Red early with victories on courts three and six. Unfortunately for Denison, Green's 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1 win over Derek Hsieh on court one came a little too late and was marked as the lone singles match win for the Big Red.

"I thought our team fought hard today," said head coach David Schilling. "We played with great energy again and found a way to get the doubles point to start out well. Chicago is an incredibly talented team, and we fought them for three and a half hours! We will be a better team down the road from today's match."

Up Next
The Denison Big Red take on No. 16 Case Western Reserve University on Sunday, February 23 at 9 a.m. CT.

Complete results below.
Singles competition
1. Ethan Green (DENM) def. Derek Hsieh (CHI) 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1
2. Emil Grantcharov (CHI) def. Jacob Patterson (DENM) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
3. Alexander Ekstrand (CHI) def. Kael Shah (DENM) 6-3, 6-3
4. Michael Choi (CHI) def. Nick Meyers (DENM) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Ajer Sher (CHI) def. Andreas Chapides (DENM) 6-3, 7-5
6. Pat Otero (CHI) def. Anthony Payiavlas (DENM) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Ethan Green/Kael Shah (DENM) def. Andrei Leonov/Pat Otero (CHI) 7-6 (7-3)
2. Colin Gramley/Jacob Patterson (DENM) def. Emil Grantcharov/Derek Hsieh (CHI) 6-3
3. Alexander Ekstrand/Michael Choi (CHI) def. Andreas Chapides/Nick Meyers (DENM) 6-4

Match Notes:
Denison 2-1; National ranking #5
University of Chicago 8-0; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,6,5,1,4,2)