The Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team posted one of the best seasons in program history in 2021-22, reaching the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time as a team, winning its first-ever NCAA Tournament match, and falling one win shy of the program record for wins in a season.
The Spartans finished the campaign with a record of 17-5 with all five losses to NCAA Tournament teams (#2 Chicago (twice), #11 Carnegie Mellon (twice), #1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps). The squad placed fourth at the 2022 University Athletic Association Championship, the best finish in program history, with a record of 1-2, and finished the season ranked 12th in the final ITA Team Rankings.
In the Second Round of the 2022 NCAA Division III Championship, CWRU defeated #26 Denison 5-1 in Cleveland, Ohio, the program's first-ever tournament win. With the victory, the Spartans, ranked #12 in the final ITA Team Rankings, advanced to the Round of 16, falling to #1 CMS 5-0.
Two Spartans, first-years Hannah Kassaie and Lily McCloskey, both earned All-America honors for their play at the 2022 NCAA Individual Championships. The duo advanced to the quarterfinals of the Doubles Championship to earn doubles All-America honors, while Kassaie added singles All-America honors after ranking sixth in the singles draw.
Kassaie finished the season with a record of 24-3 (.889) in singles play, the most singles wins in a single season in program history. She played exclusively at first singles for CWRU and ranked second in the Central Region and 14th nationally at season's end. The Kassaie/McCloskey pairing went 14-5 (.737) on the season, ranking second in the Central Region and 11th in the country at the end of the campaign.
Kassaie was named to the All-UAA First Team for her play at first singles, while the pair of Kassaie and McCloskey earned First Team All-UAA honors for their season at first doubles. McCloskey also earned All-UAA Second Team honors for her play at second singles, while first-year Radha Patel (third singles) and sophomore Pallavi Goculdas and junior Nina Hoog (second doubles) each earned honorable mentions to the All-UAA team. Goculdas earned All-UAA honors for the second time in her career, while Kassaie, McCloskey, Patel and Hoog each claimed their first career all-conference award.
As a singles player, McCloskey, ranked 11th in the Central Region and 45th in the country, went 11-6 on the season, including a 7-5 record as the team's second singles player. Patel added an impressive 18-2 record in singles play during the year, including marks of 5-0 at third singles and 15-1 overall in dual matches. Her .900 winning percentage is the best in a single season in program history. Goculdas and Hoog were 4-6 together during the year, including a win at the conference tournament.
Case Western Reserve thrived against a tough schedule, starting the season with seven consecutive wins, including victories over Division II Findlay, NAIA Northwestern Ohio, and #27 Kenyon. The team also defeated Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which reached the Round of 16 of the NCAA Division II Championship. Later in the season, the Spartans would travel to Virginia and defeat #14 Mary Washington, #21 Washington & Lee, and #28 Skidmore in consecutive days. To open the UAA Championship, CWRU took down #18 Washington University in St. Louis to secure the team's best-ever conference finish.
In the fall, Hoog and first-year Madeleine Eiss advanced to the semifinals of the main doubles draw of the 2021 ITA Division III Central Regional Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, while Kassaie reached the semifinals of the main singles draw.
In addition to the team's success on the court, 10 members of the squad – Goculdas, Hoog, junior Savannah Bright, senior Eliza Georgiades, sophomore Caitlyn Hsu, senior Nidhi Jha, sophomore Chloe Ku, senior Shreyaa Mukund, junior Shreya Ramani, and sophomore Katherine Wang – were recognized as UAA Spring All-Academic honorees.
The Spartans earned the following honors during the 2021-22 season:
