Ethan Green ’26 and Kael Shah ’26 have hit hundreds, if not thousands, of practice balls to one another on the Denison tennis courts — their elite shot-making helping them become great friends and NCAA champions.
But Wednesday, Oct. 1, under a cloudless autumn sky was like nothing they had experienced. In a celebration of Denison men’s tennis, a prestigious regional tournament that began in Kalamazoo, Michigan, over the weekend ended on a court outside Mitchell Center.
Because the Big Red teammates reached the final of the ITA Central Regional Championships, tournament organizers granted them permission to play the title match on their home court. It was a rare, but not unprecedented move enabling the university to save money on travel expenses and letting the student-athletes maintain their usual classroom schedule.
Ethan Green (pictured left) and Kael Shah on the court.
“Right before Sunday’s semifinals, we were like, ‘Let’s win these matches so we can go back and play this at Denison,’” Shah said of a final originally scheduled for Monday in Michigan.
Given the special circumstances, new athletic director Matt Tanney emailed members of the athletic department, encouraging them to attend the unique match.
Shah and Green are longtime doubles partners and key members of the 2025 Division III NCAA championship team. Shah is second in the ITA national singles rankings, while Green is fifth.
“We thought it would be great to let them decide this on their home court,” coach David Schilling said. “I don’t know who’s going to win. I’m just going to sit back and enjoy it.”
Both players possess glittering collegiate tennis resumes. Green, a three-time All-American, is the reigning conference player of the year, and an ITA Cup national finalist a year ago. Shah, a four-time All-American, is an NCAA singles runner-up the past two seasons.
While Green and Shah share a Silverstein Hall suite, they spent little time talking about the match in the two days prior to it. They had faced each other only once before, with Green defeating Shah in the 2024 ITA tournament on his way to winning the regional title.
“We play each other all the time in practice, but this one felt a little different because there was something on the line,” Green said. “It’s weird because you know how each other plays, and you know what shots to expect.”
Kael Shah and Ethan Green take a break during their Oct. 1 match at the Denison tennis courts.
By reaching the regional final, Green and Shah automatically qualified for the ITA Cup Tournament on Oct. 16-19 in Rome, Georgia. Schilling wasn’t sure how hard the two friends would compete since both had secured passage to the national event.
It took only one game in the first set to realize the friendship had been put on hold for two hours. They traded powerful forehand groundstrokes and wicked lobs. Schilling let the players officiate themselves and there were no disputed calls.
“We respect each other and there were no hard feelings,” Green said.
Adding to the surreal nature of the day, other members of the men’s team practiced on adjacent courts. They didn’t approach the finalists until the match ended with Shah winning in two sets.
The two players are so good they could meet again in the ITA Cup and in the spring at the NCAA singles tournament.
Green said there were no friendly wagers made on Wednesday’s outcome.
“There will be some trash talk later tonight,” Green said, smiling. “And I’ll probably get the brunt of it.”