In a rematch between a pair of University Athletic Association rivals, the 12th-ranked Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team avenged a loss earlier in the season to 11th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University with a 5-4 win at the Carlton Courts in Cleveland on Saturday.
With the win, the Spartans improved to 12-3 on the season. The Tartans fell to 15-4 with the loss.
CMU scored the first point of the match at third doubles when Zoe Angell and Anna Chow bested juniors Pallavi Goculdas and Katherine Wang 8-2. However, CWRU sophomore Radha Patel and first-year Katalina Wang, ranked 14th in the Central Region as a doubles pairing, evened the score with an 8-5 win at second doubles over Manuela Van Cotthem and Divya Venkatarama. Sophomores Hannah Kassaie and Lily McCloskey, ranked second in the Central Region, secured the doubles advantage with a thrilling 8-7 (7-5) win over Danna Taylor and Crystal Zhou, the fifth ranked pair in the Atlantic South Region.
Patel, the 15th-ranked singles player in the region, gave the Spartans a 3-1 lead in the match with a 6-2, 6-2 win at third singles over Van Cotthem, the only two-set singles match of the contest. Kassaie, ranked second in the Central Region, prevailed over Taylor, ranked 10th in the Atlantic South Region, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 at first singles to put Case Western Reserve a point away from clinching the win. Katalina Wang secured the win for the Spartans with a come-from-behind victory at fourth singles over Venkatarama. After losing the first set 1-6, Wang won the second set 7-5 and cruised to a 6-2 win in the third set to clinch the match.
McCloskey, ranked ninth in the Central Region, fell at second singles 6-2, 2-6, 3-6 to Zhou, ranked ninth in the Atlantic South Region. Sophomore Anna Kan lost a thrilling 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 1-6 decision to Anika Joshi at fifth singles, and Angell bested first-year Elsa Syed 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 at sixth singles for the final point of the match.
The Spartans have one final tune up before the UAA Championship Tournament, traveling to Oberlin on Thursday to face the Yeowomen at 5 p.m.
