The fifth-ranked Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team punched its ticket to the final rounds of the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships in Claremont, California, with a 4-0 win over 13th-ranked Kenyon College in the third round of the tournament at the Carlton Courts in Cleveland on Sunday afternoon.

This will be the Spartans' fifth consecutive NCAA Quarterfinal appearance and the sixth overall in program history. The team improved to 27-5 overall and has won 20 of its last 21 matches, while the Owls ended their season with a 19-6 record.

The Spartans took the early lead in the match by securing the doubles point with wins in the first and second matches, which ended at nearly the same time. First-years Jon Totorica and Leon Chen, ranked 25th in Division III, claimed the first win of the day for CWRU, defeating Josh Finkle and Eric Zhang 6-3 in the no. 2 doubles contest. Seconds later, senior Casey Hishinuma and junior Anmay Devaraj, the 13th-ranked duo in Division III, secured the doubles point with a 6-2 victory over Paolo Pocasangre and Alejandro Gonzalez in the first singles match. When doubles play was stopped, senior Ajay Mahenthiran and junior Rohan Bhat trailed Rishil Kondapaneni and Gianluca Bocanegra 4-3 in the third contest.

Mahenthiran, ranked 14th in Division III, claimed a dominating 6-2, 6-1 win over Pocasangre, ranked 16th, in the no. 1 singles match to extend CWRU's lead to 2-0. Sophomore Santiago Salazar Garza followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Rakkan Audeh in the sixth singles match to put the Spartans a point away from a victory, and Hishinuma clinched the Spartans' spot in the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win against Zhang in the fifth singles match.

The remaining three matches were stopped, with the Spartans leading each. At second singles, 38th-ranked sophomore George Kosseifi led 49th-ranked Alejandro Gonzalez in the third set, 1-6, 6-3, 2-1. Devaraj, ranked 46th, held a 7-5, 3-2 advantage over Rishil Kondapaneni in the third singles match, and junior Matthew Plunkett was ahead of Juozas Cioladis 7-5, 4-2 in the fourth doubles match.

The Spartans will now turn their attention to the NCAA Quarterfinal match in Claremont on May 19. CWRU will face either the fourth-ranked University of Chicago or 30th-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College. More information on the match will be available next week.

Spartan Notes

• CWRU has now won six-straight matches against Kenyon and seven of their last eight meetings. This was the Spartans' second win of the season against the Owls after claiming a 4-3 win in March.

• CWRU, making its eighth NCAA Championship appearance, improved to 21-6 all-time in tournament play.

• The Spartans improved to 7-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches at the Carlton Courts. This is the fourth time the team has clinched a trip to the quarterfinals on the court after accomplishing the feat in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

• Hishinuma moved into sole possession of second place in program history with the 91st win of his singles career during Sunday's match.