The third-ranked Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team fell in the Quarterfinal Round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship to fourth-ranked Bowdoin College, 5-3, on Tuesday at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis.

The Spartans ended the season with a record of 27-6, while the Polar Bears moved to 22-6 and will face top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the national semifinal tomorrow. CWRU was making its fourth consecutive appearance in the national quarterfinals and seventh overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Bowdoin quickly claimed the first doubles point, taking a 1-0 lead with an 8-3 win by Pieter Breuker and Andrew Mendelson over junior Ansh Shah and senior Daniel French. Control of the match then fell to tiebreakers as both the first and second doubles matches were even at seven. CWRU tied the match score with a victory at first doubles, as graduate student Diego Maza and senior Vishwa Aduru, ranked third in Division III, bested top-ranked Tristan Bradley and Reid Staples, 8-7 (7-3). However, the Polar Bears were able to take a 2-1 match lead with an 8-7 (7-5) win at second doubles as Ethan Bradley and Jackson Codd upset senior Sahil Dayal and sophomore Anmay Devaraj, the 16th-ranked pairing in the country.

Bowdoin took a 3-1 lead after Breuker defeated 42nd-ranked graduate student Michael Sutanto in straight sets at third singles. A 7-5, 6-4, win by junior Casey Hishinuma, ranked 46th in Division III, over Ethan Bradley at fifth singles brought the Spartans within one. Just a few minutes later, the Polar Bears took a 4-2 lead after Tristan Bradley, the top-ranked singles player in Division III, took down junior Ajay Mahenthiran, the ninth-ranked player in Division III, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, at first singles.

Shah brought the Spartans within one point soon after the loss on court one, defeating Mark Kneiss, the 43rd-ranked player in the country, 6-4, 6-4, at fourth singles to make the score 4-3.

The attention turned toward the remaining two singles matches on courts two and six. Aduru battled Staples, ranked 22nd in DIII, at second singles, and Maza played Mendelson at sixth singles. Maza won the first set 6-2, but the Polar Bear player evened the score with a 6-3 win in the second set. On court two, Staples won a thrilling 7-5 first set before clinching the match for the Polar Bears with a 6-3 victory in the second set.

Despite the loss in the team championship, the season is not over for three members of the CWRU men's tennis team. Mahenthiran will compete in the 32-player national singles championship and Aduru and Maza will vie for the doubles national title in the 16-team tournament. Aduru is the reigning doubles national champion, winning the title last season with former Spartan James Hopper. Both championships will run from Sunday, May 26 to Tuesday, May 28 at the Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis. Full draws will be released by the NCAA in an online press release on Thursday, May 23.