Denison University

Andy Mackler '24, returns to Granville, Ohio as an Assistant Coach with the Denison Men's Tennis program for his second season.

Another spectacular season capped the 2025-26 campaign, as the Big Red went 27-3 and 8-0 in conference play, winning their fourth-straight conference championship and sixth tournament championship. The Big Red would host the First, Second, and Third Rounds of the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the Quarterfinals after a 4-1 victory over WashU. The tournament run would come to an end in Chattanooga, as Denison fell to Case Western Reserve 4-3 in a thrilling match. With the team out of contention, individual play was still in hand, as seniors Kael Shah and Ethan Green suited up in singles and partners in doubles for the NCAA Individual Championships. After four rigouros rounds of hard work and determination, the duo of Shah and Green won the NCAA Individual Tournament Doubles Championship, defeating Gage Gohl and Tyler Haddorff of Gustavus Adolphus 6-2, 6-4 to claim the title. Green and Shah were also named ITA All-Americans, and both named College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans. The Big Red showcased 11 All-NCAC selections, with Shah named NCAC Player of the Year along with Shah and Green named Doubles Team of the Year.

The 2024-25 season was one for the record books, as the program captured their first ever NCAA Division III National Championship after defeating Case Western Reserve 4-2 in Claremont, Calif. The Big Red breezed through the first three rounds hosted in Granville, and faced their first test in Johns Hopkins University, where they won in a thriller 4-3 to advance to the final. The team put up a powerful performance in the final four, defeating Tufts University 4-1 before defeating Case Western Reserve University for the third time this season to be crowned national champions. To go along with their championship, they set the new program record for wins in a season with 28, and won the regular season and conference titles, making it three consecutive conference titles for the Big Red. In the ITA Central Regional Championships, Ethan Green would be crowned champion. At the ITA Cup, Green would be runner-up in the finals, and he and his partner Kael Shah would be runner-ups in doubles. Shah would also be the national runner-up in the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Singles Championship in Claremont, Calif.. The team boasted five All-NCAC recipients in singles, and three doubles were named all-conference as well. Green was named Player of the Year, and his partner Shah would be honored their second-consecutive Doubles Team of the Year honor. Three players were named ITA All-Americans in Green, Shah, and Jacob Patterson, and eight were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. Coach Schilling received some accolades of his own, as he was named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year and secured his 100th win as the Denison Head Coach in a 4-0 win over Kenyon College on April 16, 2025. Schilling currently holds a record of 108-18 (.857 percent), the highest winning percentage of a coach who has over 100 matches at Denison.

At the time of his graduation Mackler held the most career singles (75), doubles (87), and combined (161) wins in program history. He sits in the top five for career highest singles, doubles and combined winning percentage. As a Big Red Mackler was an ITA Scholar-Athlete for three seasons, earned second and third team All-NCAC honors in doubles and second team and honorable mention All-NCAC in singles. And in 2023 he was named a College Sports Communicators' Academic All-District® Team member. Learn more about his athletic accolades here.

A native of Lake Mary, Fla., Mackler graduated from Denison University as a Health, Excercise, and Sports Studies (HESS) and Global Health double major. While at Denison he 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.