Senior Lily McCloskey of the Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team advanced to the third day of the 2024 ITA Division III Central Regional Championship by reaching the quarterfinals of the singles draw with a pair of wins on Saturday on the campus of Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
McCloskey, seeded fifth in the singles draw, started with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over 17th-seeded Madelin Kavenagh of John Carroll. The Spartan followed with a 6-2, 6-0 win in the round of 16 over Kenyon's ninth-seeded Shadia Amado Aguad to reach the third day of competition. McCloskey will face fourth-seeded Clara Zuo from the University of Chicago in the quarterfinal round at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. The winner will play the winner of the match between Chicago's top-seeded Sylwia Mikos and seventh-seeded Sarena Biria in the semifinal at 1 p.m.
In doubles play, the third-seeded pair of McCloskey and junior Katalina Wang advanced to the quarterfinal round with an 8-2 victory over ninth-seeded Hana Nouaime and Shadia Amado Aguad of Kenyon. However, the Spartans were upset, 8-6, by the sixth-seeded duo of Clara Zuo and Sarena Biria from Chicago.
Graduate student Laurel Utterback also won a singles match on Saturday, defeating Kenyon's Anna Brand, seeded 17th, 6-2, 6-2 in the round of 32. Utterback, seeded eighth, fell to ninth-seeded Ally Lin of WashU 1-6, 3-6 in her second match of the day. In the doubles draw, Case Western Reserve's seventh-seeded partnership of Utterback and sophomore Katie Wong fell to ninth-seeded Peyton Oda and Maia Nowicki of Denison 8-6 in the round of 16.
Four additional Spartans competed in the round of 32 in the singles draw. Ninth-seeded senior Anna Kan fell in three sets to 17th-seeded Elanor Archer of WashU, 6-4, 5-7, 8-10. Junior Asha Shukla, also seeded ninth, lost to Lilliam Dockal from Lake Forest College, 5-7, 5-7. Katalina Wang and Katie Wong, both seeded 17th, dropped matches to ninth-seeded opponents in two sets.
In the consolation doubles bracket, Kan and Shukla defeated DePauw's Katie King and Valerie Doherty 6-1 to reach the consolation quarterfinals. The duo advanced to the semifinals with a 6-4 win over Miranda Wills and Lauren Okrainec of Ohio Northern. The Spartans will play in the consolation final on Sunday at 10 a.m. against either John Carroll's Kavenagh and Evelyn Deren or Hanover's Camellia Crist and Annamarie Stogsdill after a withdrawal in the semifinals.
Fans can see the results and schedule of the tournament here with live video streaming here throughout the weekend.
Spartan Notes
- McCloskey advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Regional singles draw for the third consecutive season
- This will be the seventh season in a row the Spartans will be represented on the third day of competition at the ITA Regional
