Box Score Juniors Hannah Kassaie and Lily McCloskey of the Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team ended their seasons at the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships held at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis on Saturday.
The duo was selected to compete in the 16-team doubles championship for the third consecutive season, with Kassaie playing in the 32-person singles championship.
In the singles bracket, Kassaie, seeded sixth in the draw, started the day with a victory in the round of 32 over unseeded Raine Weis of Christopher Newport. She began with a 6-4 win in the first set and prevailed in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-3) in the second set to reach the second round. In the round of 16, Kassaie fell to unseeded Erica Ekstrand from Williams, 3-6, 4-6.
Kassaie was making her third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship and won at least one match in the tournament for the second year in a row. With the win, she secured All-America honors in singles play for the third time in her career. Kassaie completed her career with a record of 68-11 in singles play, the most wins and highest winning percentage in program history. This season, she went 24-5, matching her program record for singles victories set during the 2021-22 season.
In the doubles bracket, Kassaie and McCloskey, seeded third in the draw, played unseeded Caitlyn Ferrante and Sarah Youngberg of Wesleyan in the first round of the 16-team tournament. The Spartans battled but dropped the match 1-6, 1-6.
Kassaie ended the season with a record of 26-4 in doubles play, the most doubles wins in program history, and concluded her career with a record of 63-15, the third-most wins in program history. McCloskey ended the season 25-4 in doubles action, the second-most doubles wins by a Spartan in a single campaign.
By virtue of their top-four seed, the partnership earned All-America honors, the sixth of Kassaie's career and third of McCloskey's. The six All-America honors are the most in program history, breaking a tie with former Spartan Madeleine Paolucci who was recognized five times. McCloskey ranks third in program history with her three career honors.
The end of the pair's run at the NCAA Championships marks the end of the 2023-24 season for the CWRU women's tennis team.