Denison University

David Schilling enters his fifth season as the Head Men's Tennis Coach at Denison University in 2024-25.

After a 15-year gap between conference championships for the Big Red, the return of Coach Schilling to Granville has marked the beginning of a monumental upswing for the Big Red men's tennis program. In the last four seasons, Denison has gone 80-16 (.833 percent) with four North Coast Athletic Conference Championships while Coach Schilling was recognized as the Wilson ITA Central Region Coach of the Year in 2022 and as the NCAC Coach of the Year in 2021 and 2024. Coach Schilling earned his 100th career win as a college head coach during Denison's 9-0 win vs. Sewanee in Lexington, Kentucky, on February 26, 2022. 

Schilling helped Denison to another memorable season in 2024. Not only did the team earn its second-straight NCAC Tournament title, the Big Red advanced to its first-ever NCAA Elite 8 in program history. Denison breezed to a 5-0 sweep of Grinnell in the NCAA Second Round and a 5-1 win over Wisconsin Whitewater in the NCAA Third Round. The Big Red fell 5-3 in the Elite 8 to the eventual National Champions from the University of Chicago. Schilling and his staff were recognized as NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year. The Big Red finished with a 21-5 overall record and a 7-0 regular season mark in the NCAC Sophomores Jacob Patterson, Kael Shah and Ethan Green were honored with ITA All-America certificates. Shah finished as the national runner-up in the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Singles Championship in St. Louis, Mo. 

Denison ended its 2023 season with a final record of 26-4, setting a new program record for wins in a single season for the second year in a row. Denison won both the NCAC regular-season and tournament championships, marking the third straight conference championship season for the Big Red in three years under the direction of Coach Schilling. Denison then secured four straight victories in singles as the Big Red defeated the University of Mary Washington 5-2 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament held at Case Western Reserve University. Denison's win over Mary Washington marked the third win in program history at the national tournament, but it was Denison's second win at the national tournament in the last two seasons after a 24-year gap between wins before that. Senior Jack Bulger was named the 2023 NCAC Player of the Year and was chosen to compete in the 2023 NCAA Singles Championship in Orlando, Florida, while freshman Jacob Patterson earned NCAC Newcomer of the Year honors. Fellow-freshman Andreas Chapides set a new Denison single-season record for singles wins with 31 while junior transfer Zachary Portnoy's 26 total doubles wins were good for the second most in a single season in program history.

The 2022 season will go down as one of the best ever in the history of the Denison men's tennis program. Coach Schilling helped guide the Big Red to their second straight NCAC Championship in his first two years as head coach, and then in the NCAA Division III Tournament, the Big Red won their second-round matchup by defeating Sewanee by a final score of 5-2. The win for Denison sent the Big Red into the Sweet Sixteen and set a new program record for wins in a single season (23-4) at the time. Making their second straight national tournament appearance after a 15-year absence before that, the Big Red earned their second win in program history at the national tournament, and their first win since 1997. After ranking as high as No. 10 in the country entering the national tournament, the Big Red finished the season with a national ranking of No. 12.

Following the 2022 season, Coach Schilling was recognized as the Wilson ITA Central Region Coach of the Year while senior Tim Cianciola was named the ITA Central Region Player of the Year. Additionally, Cianciola was named an ITA All-American in both singles and doubles while junior Jack Bulger joined him as a doubles All-American. Cianciola became Denison's first back-to-back All-American since 1999, and became the first Denison tennis player to be recognized as an All-American for both singles and doubles in the same season since 1998. His three career All-American certificates while being coached by Schilling are the second most in the history of Denison men's tennis.

At the 2022 NCAA Division III Individual Championships, Cianciola became the first player in Denison history to advance to the quarterfinals (Elite Eight) of the Singles Championship. Cianciola finished the year ranked in a tie for 10th in the final ITA Division III Men's Tennis National Singles Rankings. In doubles, Cianciola and Bulger were the first Big Red duo to reach All-American status since 2006. Cianciola and Bulger, the No. 4-seeded duo in the Doubles Championship, went on to become just the second Big Red duo and the first since 1997 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Under Schilling's watch, Cianciola not only became Denison's new single-season leader in singles wins , but also became Denison's new all-time leader in career singles victories with a record of 67-16 (.807 percent) across his four years. He was also named NCAC Player of the Year for the second year in a row in 2022, becoming Denison's first back-to-back NCAC Player of the Year since 2000-01. Cianciola and Bulger, meanwhile, were ranked fourth in the final ITA Division III Men's Tennis National Doubles Rankings as they became Denison's first ever back-to-back NCAC Doubles Team of the Year.

It could not have been a more perfect start for Coach Schilling as he led the Big Red to their first NCAC Championship since 2006 during his first season in 2021. Denison went 10-3 overall and a perfect 6-0 in NCAC play. Schilling was named NCAC Coach of the Year and Tim Cianciola won Player of the Year while also taking home Doubles Team of the Year, alongside Jack Bulger. Additionally, after ranking as the No. 1 singles player in the NCAA Division III Central Region, earning a spot in the NCAA Division III Singles Championships, advancing to the round of 16 and finishing the season ranked No. 11 nationally in singles, Cianciola became the first Denison men’s tennis player to be named an All-American since 2012. In the end, the Big Red ended their season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament after a close 5-4 loss to Gustavus Adolphus College. 

A 1989 Denison graduate and one of the most accomplished tennis players in the history of the program, Schilling comes to Denison after 20 years as an assistant coach at Ohio State University. With Schilling on staff, Ohio State ascended to the top of the Big Ten, became a top-five program at the NCAA Division I level, and saw a streak of 14 consecutive Big Ten championships. In 2018, the Buckeyes advanced to the Division I national championship match.

In 2010, Schilling was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year and in 2012, he coached Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola to the NCAA Doubles Championship. The following year, Rola won the NCAA Singles Championship.

Prior to joining the coaching staff at Ohio State, Schilling was the head men’s tennis coach at Kenyon College from 1994-99 where he guided the Lords to the NCAC Championship in 1995 while being ranked in the top-25 of the Division III rankings for five-straight seasons. Schilling went 87-36 (.707) with the Lords, ranking him second in career wins.

He also spent two seasons as the assistant men’s and women’s tennis coach from 1992-94 at Denison and was the assistant men’s tennis coach at the College of Wooster from 1989-92.

Schilling graduated from Denison in 1989 with a degree in economics and went on to earn his master’s in sports management from Ohio State in 1994. A four-year member of the Denison men’s tennis team, he was a five-time All-NCAC honoree and was one of only 10 singles players named to the NCAC 10th Anniversary All-Decade Team in 1993. The Big Red captured four-straight NCAC Championships while Schilling was a member of the squad.