Junior Hannah Kassaie of the Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team was honored with the 2024 ITA Sally Ride STEM Award as endowed by Tam O'Shaughnessy and announced by the organization on Thursday.
Created to honor a female student-athlete who demonstrates zeal, dedication, and perseverance toward her tennis training and competition, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) studies, and long-term goals, the ITA Sally Ride STEM Award serves as a symbol of the ability of women to shatter barriers.
"I'm beyond grateful to receive this award and one named after such an accomplished and inspiring woman, scientist, and athlete," Kassaie said. "I really can't thank Dr. O'Shaughnessy and the ITA enough. Dr. Ride's accomplishments and her confidence are incredible, despite the barriers she faced. To be named the winner of this award is truly an honor, and I'm so happy that our team will also be recognized as they've been such an important part of my college experience. With passions for tennis and STEM, I hope to do the same as Dr. Ride has done for me and others."
In addition to the award, Kassaie will receive an $8,000 grant to pursue her dreams. Also, the ITA will donate $2,000 to the CWRU women's tennis program. Now in its third year, previous winners of the ITA Sally Ride STEM Award include Anna Tifrea (Cal Tech, 2022) and Mckenzie Ferrari (UMass Dartmouth, 2023).
Kassaie is the most decorated player in CWRU women's tennis history, earning six All-America honors in her career (three each in singles and doubles play). She was the 2024 University Athletic Association Player of the Year and is a six-time All-UAA First Team honoree. She set the program record for career singles wins with 68, holds the program record for career singles winning percentage (.861), and ranks third in the program history in career doubles wins (63).
This season, Kassaie became the first-ever member of the women's tennis team to qualify for the ITA Cup in singles play, reaching the national invitational after advancing to the final of the ITA Regional Championship. In the spring, she qualified for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships for the third consecutive season, reaching the round of 16 in both competitions. Kassaie finished the 2023-24 season with a record of 24-5 in singles play, matching her program record for singles wins, and 26-4 in doubles play, the most doubles victories in a single season for a Spartan.
In the classroom, Kassaie graduated from Case Western Reserve with a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average and a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition. She won the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Elite 90 Award for the highest cumulative GPA at a championship site in both 2023 and 2024 and was named the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for Division III Women's Tennis. A member of the Pre-Professional Scholars Program (PPSP) at CWRU, Kassaie will be conducting genetics research in Bangkok, Thailand, over the next year before starting at the School of Medicine in 2025.
Kassaie helped the 10th-ranked Spartan women's tennis team reach the Third Round of the NCAA Championship for the second time in program history this year, defeating 14th-ranked Carleton in the Second Round, 5-0. CWRU ended the 2023-24 season with a record of 15-7 in dual matches.
