Six members of the Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team advanced to the second day of the 2024 ITA Division III Central Regional Championships on Friday at Stowe Stadium on the campus of Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
All three Spartan doubles partnerships received byes into the round of 32, with a pair of teams advancing to the round of 16 on Saturday. Third-seeded senior Lily McCloskey and junior Katalina Wang defeated Jenna Bell and Caroline Robinson of Ohio Northern, 8-4. The duo will face ninth-seeded Hana Nouaime and Shadia Amado Aguad of Kenyon at 8 a.m. The seventh-seeded pair of graduate student Laurel Utterback and sophomore Katie Wong bested Adrian's Hye Jin Elliot and Claire Early, 8-6. Wong and Utterback will take on ninth-seeded Peyton Oda and Maia Nowicki of Denison at 8 a.m. The quarterfinal round is scheduled to immediately follow the round of 16, tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m.
In singles play, all six CWRU players won their round of 64 matchups after receiving first round byes. Neither Utterback, seeded eighth, nor junior Asha Shukla, seeded ninth, dropped a point in their victories, winning 6-0, 6-0 over Maya Lee of Kalamazoo and Maria Hayes of Transylvania, respectively. Seventeenth-seeded Wang defeated Hannah Colbert of Augustana, 6-1, 6-1, and ninth-seeded senior Anna Kan bested Nouaime, 6-2, 6-1. McCloskey, Case Western Reserve's top-seeded player with the fifth seed, defeated Hope's Sullivan Moran, 6-3, 6-2. Finally, Wong, seeded 17th, prevailed in a thrilling three-set match, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8, over Juliana Pullen of Kalamazoo.
On Saturday, Wong is slated to face ninth-seeded Abigail Penados of North Central, Kan will take on 17th-seeded Elanor Archer from WashU, and McCloskey will play against John Carroll's 17th-seeded Madeline Kavanaugh. In the lower portion of the bracket, Wang will face ninth-seeded Oliwia Mikos of Chicago, Shukla is set to play Lilliam Dockal from Lake Forest, and Utterback will take on Kenyon's 17th-seeded Ana Brand. All six matches are currently scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.
In doubles play, Kan and Shukla, seeded ninth in the draw, fell to Brand and Clare Hudson of Kenyon, 8-6, in the doubles round of 32. The duo rebounded in consolation draw, defeating Sarah Sgambati and Felicity Kolb of John Caroll, 8-0.
Fans can see the results and schedule of the tournament here with live video streaming here throughout the weekend.
