The Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team wrapped up its 2021 regular season schedule with a pair of 8-1 victories on Senior Day over the College of Wooster on Sunday afternoon at the Latuchie Tennis Center in Stow, Ohio.
With the two wins, the Spartans conclude their regular season with an overall record of 10-2, and finish with a perfect 8-0 mark against Division III opponents. Wooster dropped to 3-8 following the two losses.
In the first match of the day, CWRU swept through the three doubles matches, with sophomore James Hopper and senior Matthew Chen besting Joaquin Abos Amo and Austin Hanna 8-2 at no. 1 doubles, seniors Jonathan Powell and Neil Mabee beating Alex Drewes and Shivan Dewam 8-2 at no. 2 doubles, and seniors Anthony Kanam and Earl Hsieh claiming an 8-1 win over Nebyou Minassie and Vakul Nath at no. 3 doubles.
Hopper claimed the first singles victory of the day for the Spartans with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Hanna at no. 1 singles to put CWRU in front 4-0, and Kanam clinched the match for the team with a flawless 6-0, 6-0 win at no. 6 singles over Minassie. Powell added to the win with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Nath at fifth singles, as did junior Chaitanya Aduru with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Dewan at fourth singles. Rounding out the win, Chen topped Drewes 7-5, 6-0 at no. 3 singles, while at no. 2 singles, first-year Vishwa Aduru suffered a setback in a close match against Abos Amo, falling 7-5, 7-6.
In the second match, CWRU jumped out to a 2-0 lead, with Hopper and Mabee besting Drewes and Dewan 8-0 at no. 2 doubles and Kanam and Hsieh topping Minassie and Nath 8-3 at no. 3 doubles. Wooster would pull back within a point with an 8-4 win by Abos Amo and Hanna over Powell at Chen at first singles.
Powell would bounce back with a dominating win at no. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-0 over Dewan. Senior Aris Jhaveri extended the Spartans lead to 4-1 with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Minassie at sixth singles, and Hsieh clinched the win at fifth singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nath.
CWRU would go onto sweep the remainder of the singles matches. Hopper claimed a 6-1, 6-3 win over Abos Amo at no. 1 singles, while at no. 2 singles, Vishwa Aduru earned a three-set win over Hanna, 3-6, 6-2, 10-5. Kanam capped off the Spartan victory with a 6-0, 7-6 win at no. 4 singles over Drewes.
Prior to the start of the match, the Spartans' recognized their seven graduating senior players – Chen, Hsieh, Jhaveri, Kanam, Austin Lawrence, Mabee and Powell – with a special ceremony prior to the start of the matches. The group has helped lead the team to a 66-22 record over the past four years, with the squad being ranked as high as ninth nationally during their time as Spartans.
