For the first time in program history, a member of the Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team will be competing in the singles draw of the ITA Cup. Junior Hannah Kassaie punched her ticket to Rome, Georgia, by reaching the finals of the ITA Central Region Championship on Sunday in St. Louis.

Kassaie, seeded third in the singles draw, reached the final with a semifinal win over second-seeded Eleni Lazaridou of Kenyon 6-3, 6-0. However, she fell to Chicago's Slywia Mikos, the top seed, 6-2, 2-6, 2-6 in the championship match.

Kassaie becomes the first member of the women's tennis team to play in the ITA Cup since 2018. Former Spartans Jessica Liu and Madeleine Paolucci qualified for the event after winning the doubles regional championship that season. The duo finished third at the ITA Cup.

Kassaie also competed in the semifinals of the doubles draw with fellow junior Lily McCloskey. The top-seeded Spartan duo were upset by the eighth-seeded pair of Oliwia Mikos and Rena Lin from Chicago 6-8.

In the consolation bracket of the doubles draw, sophomore Asha Shukla and junior Anna Kan defeated Erin Storrer and Lillia Walter from Otterbein 8-4.

The ITA Cup will be played from October 12-16 at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Georgia. Draws will be released by the ITA closer to the event. The remainder of the CWRU women's tennis will next compete in the spring season, starting with a dual match against Wooster on February 9.