The Spartan Club, comprised of Case Institute of Technology (CIT), Western Reserve University (WRU) and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) alumni, parents of current students, faculty and staff, and friends of the University, is aimed at helping foster and honor the proud tradition of athletics at the University, while also supporting the current student-athletes. For more information on the Spartan Club, and to help support its purpose by becoming a member, CLICK HERE.
Case Western Reserve University senior Bradley Winter, a goalkeeper on the men's soccer team, and sophomore Ellie Palaian, a goalkeeper on the women's soccer team, have been named the Spartan Club Athletes of the Week for their performances this past week.
Winter recorded a pair of shutouts in University Athletic Association contests, helping the Spartans go undefeated on the road last weekend. Winter set the single-season program record with his ninth shutout of 2025, blanking fifth-ranked Brandeis in a 0-0 tie on Friday evening in Waltham, Massachusetts. He saved four shots in the draw, breaking a tie with himself (2023) and former Spartan Charlie Fink (2018) for the program record. On Sunday, Winter extended the record with his 10th shutout of the season, blanking NYU in a 1-0 victory in Newark, New Jersey. This season, Winter has allowed six goals in 15 games and allowed one or fewer goals in 14 of the contests. His goals against average is 0.40 and save percentage stands at .829. CWRU improved to 7-3-5 followed the weekend with a 1-2-2 mark in University Athletic Association play.
The Spartans return home for their final contest at DiSanto Field this season, hosting second-ranked Emory University on Saturday, November 1 at 11 a.m. Prior to the match, the team will honor its graduating players, including Winter, with Senior Day ceremonies.
Palaian recorded a pair of shutouts over the weekend to set the program record for clean sheets in a season and lead the sixth-ranked Spartans to a pair of 2-0 wins. On Friday night against 19th-ranked Brandeis in Waltham, Massachusetts, she saved three shots in 90 minutes, with all three saves coming in the second half. On Sunday afternoon against 24th-ranked NYU, Palaian also saved three shots in the second half in a 2-0 victory in Newark, New Jersey. Her shutout of the Violets was her 11th this season, setting the single-season program record and breaking a tie with former Spartans Maggie Storti (2021) and Anna Kennedy (2011). This season, Palaian has allowed just seven goals in 16 games for a goals against average of 0.44 and a save percentage of .841. CWRU improved to 13-1-2 with the two wins and 3-1-1 in conference play.
The Spartans return to Cleveland for their final regular season home game, hosting top-ranked Emory at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 1.
The Spartan Club Athletes of the Week are selected by the CWRU Department of Athletics each Monday, based on their performance during the previous week of competition.
Honorable Mentions:
First-year forward/midfielder Izzy Probst (women's soccer) scored a goal and added an assist for the sixth-ranked Spartans during the team's 2-0-0 road UAA weekend. Probst assisted on the team's second goal in a 2-0 victory over 19th-ranked Brandeis in Waltham, Massachusetts, on Friday night, sending a pass to senior Maggie Farra in the box, which she converted for the team's second goal. On Sunday afternoon, Probst found the back of the net herself, scoring in the 30th minute with a left-footed strike for the first goal of the game in an eventual 2-0 victory over 24th-ranked NYU in Newark, New Jersey. Probst has five goals, including three game-winning scores, and eight assists this season for 18 points. She is tied for the team lead with six points in conference play on one goal and a team-high four assists.
Sophomore midfielder Ashton McNally (men's soccer) scored his first goal of the season in the Spartans 1-0 victory over New York University on Sunday afternoon in Newark, New Jersey. In the 59th minute, McNally slid toward a through ball in the box, beating the goalkeeper to it and pushing into the back of the net. On Friday night, he also led the CWRU with four shots, including one on goal, in a 0-0 tie with fifth-ranked Brandeis in Waltham, Massachusetts. This season, McNally has one goal and one assist, taking 15 shots (10 on goal) in 15 appearances.
Senior outside hitter Kalli Wall (volleyball) eclipsed 1,000 career kills on Sunday during the team's 1-1 day at the third UAA Round Robin hosted by the University of Chicago in the Ratner Athletic Center. In the team's five-set victory over New York University to start the day, Wall paced the team with 18 kills on a .246 hitting percentage. Needing 10 kills to reach 1,000, she put down 13 in a four-set loss to Chicago to end conference play. She added three blocks in the loss to the Maroons. This season, Wall has 370 kills in 102 sets (3.63 per set), adding 57 blocks and 99 digs. She ranked second in the association in kills per set in conference matches (3.76 per set). The Spartans moved to 14-12 this season and finished UAA play with a record of 4-3.
The Spartans return to Horsburgh Gymnasium for their final home match of the season, welcoming 22nd-ranked Otterbein to Cleveland on Saturday, November 1 at 3 p.m. Prior to the match, the team will honor its four graduating members, including Wall, with a Senior Day celebration.
Sophomore Elena Esquivel (volleyball) directed the Spartan offense during the team's 1-1 trip to Chicago for the third UAA Round Robin on Sunday. Esquivel totaled 62 assists in nine sets (6.89 per set) while adding 11 kills, 32 digs, eight blocks, and a service ace. In a five-set win over NYU, she had 30 assists, 17 digs, and eight kills, nearly achieving the first triple-double of her career. She followed that performance with 32 assists and 15 digs in a four-set loss to Chicago. Esquivel averages 5.81 assists and 2.83 digs per set this season, recording 15 double-doubles, including five in conference play.
First-year swimmer River Chiang (men's swimming and diving) won three individual events and added a victory in two relays to help the 11th-ranked Spartans win two duals at the Battle in the Bluegrass hosted by Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, on Saturday. Chiang won the 200 Free (1:43.86, a season-best time), 200 Back (1:56.99), and 100 Free (47.65) and was a member of the winning 200 Free Relay (1:25.55) and 400 Free Relay (3:08.00). He also recorded a personal-best time in the 1000 Free (10:14.40). CWRU defeated Franklin 385-69 and bested Centre 275-211 to improve to 3-0 in dual meets this season.
The Spartans will host sixth/12th-ranked archrival Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, November 1 for the team's first home meet of the 2025-26 season.
First-year diver Jayna Kawas (women's swimming and diving) won all four diving events for the 13th-ranked Spartans at the Battle in the Bluegrass hosted by Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, on Saturday. She won the 3-meter dive with scores of 226.75 and 222.10 and the 1-meter dive with scores of 238.15 and 224.45. The Spartans defeated Centre 303.5-182.5 and bested Franklin 297-188 to improve to 3-0 in dual meets this season.
First-year swimmer Sohalya Rawlins (women's swimming and diving) helped the 13th-ranked Spartans win four events at the Battle in the Bluegrass hosted by Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, on Saturday. As an individual, Rawlins won both the 50 Free races, recording times of 24.73 and 24.93 seconds. She also led off the winning 200 and 400 Free Relays which finished in 1:37.56 and 3:41.40, respectively. The Spartans defeated Centre 303.5-182.5 and bested Franklin 297-188 to improve to 3-0 in dual meets this season.
Junior quarterback Sam DeTillio (football) helped lead the Spartans to their fourth consecutive win with a 55-7 victory at Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon. Despite playing only the first 30 minutes of the game after helping the Spartans jump out to a 45-0 lead by halftime, DeTillio accounted for three touchdowns, two through the air and one on the ground. He completed seven of nine pass attempts for 185 yards and carried the ball five times for 22 yards. He delivered a 51-yard touchdown pass to Liam O'Brien with 8:10 left in the opening quarter to put CWRU ahead 17-0 and then ran for an eight-yard touchdown with 10:37 left in the first half to push the team's lead to 31-0. He capped off his day with a 23-yard touchdown strike to Andy Kavcic with 1:10 remaining in the second quarter to give CWRU a 45-0 lead going into halftime. DeTillio has completed 58.7% of his passes this season for 1,274 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions while rushing for a team-high 302 yards with four additional touchdowns. The Spartans improved to 4-2-1 overall and stand at 4-1 in Presidents' Athletic Conference games.
Junior kicker Gabriel Petrozzi (football) accounted for 12 points during the Spartans' 55-7 win at Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, including a career-long 50-yard field goal. Petrozzi's 50-yard boot with 6:10 left in the third quarter extended the team's lead to 48-0 and matched the eighth-longest by a Division III kicker this season. It was also the second-longest field goal in program history behind a 51-yard kick by Joe Brenner against WashU on October 25, 2003, exactly 22 years prior to Petrozzi's kick. He also made a 31-yard field goal with 9:54 left in the first quarter to put CWRU in front 10-0 at the time, was successful on all six of his extra point attempts, and kicked off eight times for an average of 56.4 yards with one touchback. Petrozzi has converted five of his seven field goal attempts (71.4%) this season while making all 34 of his extra point tries.
Senior defensive end Joseph Swarm (football) helped the Spartans' defense hold Thiel College scoreless during his time on the field in a 55-7 win in Greenville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon. Swarm, who only played in the first half with the Spartans building a 45-0 lead after 30 minutes, led the team with five tackles (all solo), two tackles for loss, one sack, and a forced fumble. He set the tone for CWRU with a strip sack on the opening drive of the game, resulting in a fumble recovery for the Spartans that gave the team the ball on the Thiel 10-yard line. Swarm led a defensive effort that forced three first-half turnovers and held the Tomcats to just 39 yards in the opening half. He has recorded a sack in each of the team's last five games and has totaled 32 tackles (18 solo) while leading all Spartan players with 8.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
2025-26 Spartan Club Athletes of the Week:
Sept. 2: Jacob Slater (men's cross country) & Jamie Goldfarb (women's soccer)
Sept. 8: Mitchell Fein (men's soccer) & Maggie Farra (women's soccer)
Sept. 15: Bradley Winter (men's soccer) & Ceci Dapino (women's soccer)
Sept. 22: Daniel King (football) & Halina Tompkins (women's cross country)
Sept. 29: Sam DeTillio (football) & Kalli Wall (volleyball)
Oct. 6: Osi Chukwuocha (football) & Ceci Dapino (women's soccer)
Oct. 13: Kalli Wall (volleyball) & Claire Kozma (women's swimming and diving)
Oct. 20: Jacob Slater (men's cross country) & Halina Tompkins (women's cross country)
Oct. 27: Bradley Winter (men's soccer) & Ellie Palaian (women's soccer)
