The 12th-ranked Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team's banner campaign came to an end on Saturday afternoon, as the Spartans fell to the fourth-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College Athenas in the Round of 16 of the NCAA Division III Championship at the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Spartans fell behind early in doubles play, as Nina Hoog and Pallavi Goculdas dropped an 8-0 decision in the second doubles match to Sydney Lee and Gabby Lee, and Hannah Kassaie and Lily McCloskey suffered an 8-2 setback to Alisha Chulani and Nika Batoshvili in the no. 1 doubles match. At third doubles, Katherine Wang and Radha Patel fell to Sarah Bahsoun and Devon Wolfe 8-3.
The Athenas clinched the match by claiming victories in the first two singles matches to finish, with Ella Brissett besting Savannah Bright 6-1, 6-2 in the fourth match, and Batoshvili defeating Anna Kan 6-2, 6-2 in the fifth match.
Kassaie led at no. 1 singles when play was stopped, as she took a 6-2, 2-2 lead against Crystal Juan, while Madeleine Eiss was deadlocked in the first set with Bahsoun at sixth singles, 6-6. McCloskey trailed Sydney Lee 6-4, 1-2 at no. 2 singles, and Patel was behind Audrey Yoon 6-4, 1-2 at third singles.
Saturday's loss completed what will go down as the best season to date in the program's history. The Spartans finished the season with an overall record of 17-5, one win shy of the most in team history. CWRU placed fourth at the UAA Championship in April, the highest finish in team history, and reached the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time, winning the first NCAA postseason match in team history yesterday against Denison.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, which improved to 24-3 following the win, will advance to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals in Orlando, Florida.
CWRU will now turn its attention toward the individual championships in Orlando, which will follow the conclusion of the team championship. Kassaie is slated to compete in the singles draw and will be joined by McCloskey in the doubles bracket. The seedings and draws will be released on Wednesday, May 26, with competition at the USTA National Campus beginning on Friday, May 27.
