The Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team reached the pinnacle of achievement in Division III during the 2022-23 season, becoming the first program in university history to win an NCAA National Team Championship.
The National Championship was the top achievement for CWRU in a season that was historical for a variety of reasons. The Spartans won the first University Athletic Association Championship in program history and set a program record for wins in season with a 33-4 record. CWRU claimed the ITA Indoor National Championship for the second-straight season, becoming just the third Division III program to win the title in back-to-back years.
The Spartans, who entered the NCAA Tournament as the top-ranked team in Division III, claimed the 2023 NCAA Championship with a 5-2 win over Tufts on May 16. CWRU took immediate control of the match by sweeping the three doubles contests to jump out to a 3-0 advantage. Tufts pulled closer with a win at no. 4 singles, but sophomore
Ajay Mahenthiran secured a win at fifth singles to put the Spartans a victory away from the championship. After Tufts cut the lead to two with a sixth singles win, senior
James Hopper would provide the championship-clinching win with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph at no. 1 singles, allowing the Spartans to lift the NCAA Championship trophy for the first time.
Individually, Hopper and junior
Vishwa Aduru went on to win the NCAA Division III Doubles Championship, marking the second-straight season that Hopper has claimed the title and the third NCAA Doubles Championship in program history. The duo, who entered the draw as the top-ranked team, bested Swarthmore's Michael Melnikov and Utham Koduri in three sets, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (5) to secure the NCAA Championship. Seniors
Diego Maza and
Chris Provenzano also qualified for the NCAA Doubles Tournament and reached the semifinals before losing in three sets to the pairing from Swarthmore, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5). In the singles draw, Aduru, the eighth-seeded player, reached the semifinals, while Hopper, the top seed, made it to the quarterfinals.
Hopper and Aduru won the ITA Cup Division III Doubles Title in the fall and were selected as a wild card entry for the ITA Fall Nationals.
CWRU's path to the NCAA Team Championship was relatively straight forward until the semifinals. Hosting the first three rounds of the NCAA Championships for the second-straight year, the Spartans defeated Kalamazoo 5-0 in the second round after a first-round bye and then claimed a 5-1 win against 14
th-ranked Denison in the round of 16. CWRU went on to defeat 13
th-ranked Gustavus Adolphus in the quarterfinals, setting up a semifinal matchup against fourth-ranked Middlebury.
The semifinal match against the Panthers proved to be the most competitive of the postseason for the Spartans. For just the second time against a Division III opponent all year, CWRU dropped two of the three doubles matches to fall behind early 2-1, and suffered a loss at third singles that extended the deficit to 3-1. The Spartans evened the score with wins from Hopper at no. 1 singles and sophomore
Casey Hishinuma at no. 6 singles and took the lead on a win victory from sophomore
Ansh Shah at no. 4 singles. The Panthers evened the score with a win at fifth singles, turning all the attention towards the match-deciding contest at second doubles between Aduru and Aidan Harris. After dropping the first set 6-4 and trailing 4-1 in the second, Aduru rallied to win the second set 7-5. He also trailed 5-3 in the third set, but rallied again, eventually pulling out the third-set tiebreaker 7-4 to write the team's ticket into the NCAA title match. With the win over Middlebury, CWRU became just the eighth program in Division III history to reach the NCAA Championship match in three-consecutive seasons.
Earlier in the year, the Spartans claimed the first UAA Championship in program history, defeating Rochester 5-0 in the first round, #7 Emory 5-1 in the semifinals, and third-ranked WashU 5-1 in the championship match. CWRU earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of the win. Hopper was named the UAA Player of the Year, becoming just the second player in program history to win the honor.
CWRU secured its second-straight ITA Indoor Championship in late February in St. Peter, Minnesota, defeating Emory 5-1 in the first round, fifth-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 6-3 in the semifinals, and WashU 5-1 in the championship contest. The Spartans joined Emory and Gustavus Adolphus as the only DIII programs to repeat as champions at the event.
CWRU ended the year with a perfect 28-0 record against Division III opposition, including a 14-0 record against nationally ranked DIII teams. In addition, the Spartans registered 4-2 wins over Barry (which went on to win the DII National Championship) and Lynn (ranked 28
th-ranked in Division III at the time of the match).
CWRU players combined for a .759 winning percentage (236-75) in singles matches and a .773 mark (140-41) in doubles contests during the year. Hopper (28-4) and Mahenthiran (28-6) tied for the team lead in singles victories during the year, just two away from the program's single season record. Other 20-match winners in singles play for the Spartans included Hishinuma (26-8), Aduru (23-8), and Shah (23-6). Hopper went 44-4 in doubles play (breaking his own school record for doubles wins in a campaign), while Provenzano (37-11) tied for the second-most doubles wins in a year in program history. Aduru (35-4) and Maza (32-8) also won over 30 matches for the Spartans during the season.
Hopper broke
CJ Krimbill's program record for doubles wins over a career with his 124
th victory during the National Championship match and went on to finish his career with a 128-13 record in doubles matches, the best winning percentage in school history. He added an 82-19 singles record over his career, the fourth-most wins and seventh-highest winning percentage (.812) ever by a Spartan player.
Hopper claimed ITA National Senior Player of the Year honors following the season, while assistant coach
Wade Heerboth was selected as the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
In addition to their success on the court, the Spartans also had unprecedented academic success as well. Three members of the team were named College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans, with Aduru earning a spot on the first team, Shah claiming a place on the second team, and Hopper being placed on the third team. The three honorees were more than any other Division III school during the year. Aduru, Shah, and Hopper were joined by Sutanto on the CSC Academic All-District Team, while a total of 19 Spartans earned ITA Scholar-Athlete acclaim and 15 members received UAA All-Academic honors. In addition, junior
Sahil Dayal was named the NCAA Elite 90 winner for having the highest GPA among participants at the NCAA Championships, becoming the first two-time winner of the award in program history, and the third men's tennis player in Division III history to claim the honor multiple times.
The Spartans earned the following awards during the 2022-23 season:
The following were the Spartans wins leaders during the 2022-23 season:
* Indicates school record
The following Spartans were featured in the final ITA Rankings:
