The 12th-ranked Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team jumped out to a 3-0 lead after doubles play and held on for a 6-3 win over 34th-ranked Chapman University in Orange, California on Sunday afternoon.
The Spartans improved to 8-3 overall following the win, while Chapman dropped to 1-2 following the setback.
CWRU was dominant in doubles play in the match, sweeping all three contests on Sunday. Juniors Pallavi Goculdas and Katherine Wang got CWRU on the board with an 8-5 win over Soleil Zsibrita and Racquel Fhima at third doubles and sophomore Radha Patel and first-year Katalina Wang followed with an 8-5 win at second doubles over Olivia Desso and Brooke Waite. Sophomores Hannah Kassaie and Lily McCloskey completed the sweep with an 8-6 win over Aliya Allyn and Alexis Golin at first doubles.
While it appeared early on that the Spartans were going to be able to run away with the match, Chapman claimed the first two singles wins to pull back within a point. First to finish was fifth singles, where Desso bested Goculdas 6-1, 6-3, and Allyn added a 6-4, 6-3 win over McCloskey at no. 1 singles. Katalina Wang was able to claim a three-set win over Goldie La, 7-6,2-6, 6-2, to put CWRU within a match of clinching the win. A victory by Waite at sixth singles over senior Shreya Ramani, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, set the score at 4-3 with two matches still going.
Sophomore Anna Kan provided the clinching win for the Spartans with a come-from-behind victory at fourth singles. After dropping her first set 6-7, Kan battled back with 7-6 and 6-2 wins in the next two sets against Zsibrita to secure the team victory for CWRU. Patel followed with a 6-7, 6-1, 7-6 (2) win at second singles to add to the team's total.
The Spartans will continue their California trip at 8:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 14 against the 14th-ranked University of Redlands in Redlands, California.
