| Championship: Friday, May 7, 2:00 p.m. |
| Denison 5, DePauw 0 |
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No. 27-ranked Denison (10-2) captured the 2021 NCAC Men's Tennis Championship on Friday, May 7, in Granville, Ohio. The Big Red defeated DePauw (10-7), 5-0, securing the 13th men's tennis title in program history and the first since 2006.
Denison collected its first point of the championships at No. 2 doubles as seniors Vlad Rotnov (Solon, OH/Solon) and Patrick McGuigan (Burr Ridge, IL/Benet Academy) combined to beat the Tigers, 8-3. The Big Red also captured points in No. 1 doubles and No. 3 doubles, taking a 3-0 lead to singles action.
Denison sealed the 5-0 victory with wins at No. 4 and No. 6 singles. Big Red sophomore Daniel Garcia (Camberly, United Kingdom) won in straight sets at No. 6 singles, 6-1, 6-0, before freshman Andy Mackler (Lake Mary, FL/Seminole) captured the match-clinching point, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 4 singles.
Denison's first-year head coach David Schilling won his first NCAC title as a coach since 1995, when he was in his first season as the head men's tennis coach at Kenyon.
As conference champions, Denison has earned the league's automatic bid into the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament. The NCAA Division III field will be announced on Monday, May 10 at Noon on NCAA.com.
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Denison, DePauw set for NCAC Men's Tennis Championship
The Denison and DePauw men's tennis teams have earned the top seeds from the East and West Divisions, respectively. As the top seeds of each division, the Big Red and Tigers advance to the 2021 NCAC Men's Tennis Championship game.
The two teams arrive at the conference title match after compiling unblemished 6-0 records in their respective divisions. They met up once during the regular season for a non-conference matchup on Saturday, March 27, in which Denison recorded a 9-0 victory over DePauw.
The championship game will be hosted by the Big Red and is tentatively set for Friday, May 7, at 2:00 p.m. The winner of the championship will earn the conference's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament.
Kenyon leads the way with 22 NCAC Championship titles (1989, 1991-93, '95, 2002-05, 2007-19), while Denison has captured 12 (1985-89, '94, 1997-2001, '06) and Wooster has earned four (1985, '89, '90, '96).
Spectator Policy
All NCAC championship events will be conducted using the respective campus visitors' policies; at this time, visiting team spectators are not permitted at any NCAC campus. Masking and social distancing policies are also in effect. Failure to comply with protocols will result in removal from campus.
Note: Conference policy will determine the championship field if team availability changes due to COVID 19 protocols prior to the championship game.
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2021 NCAC Men's Tennis Championship Format
The top seeds from the East and West Divisions will advance to a championship match, which will be hosted by the East Divisional top seed, unless the two schools agree to a change to accommodate facility or campus situations.
Spectators will be permitted according to the host institution's campus visitors' policy.
The winner of the championship match will claim the 2021 NCAC Championship and also earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
2021 NCAC Divisions:
East – Allegheny, Denison, Kenyon, Wooster
West – DePauw, Ohio Wesleyan, Wabash, Wittenberg