Four members of the Case Western Reserve University women's tennis team were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, the organization announced on Tuesday.
Graduate student Laurel Utterback, senior Lily McCloskey, and juniors Katalina Wang and Asha Shukla were each honored by the CSC for their achievements on the court and in the classroom.
Student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically with a cumulative grade point average greater than 3.50 and must have been in the team's lineup for at least 70 percent of an institution's days of team competition to be eligible for the award. Schools are limited to four selections per team. McCloskey will advance to the Academic All-America ballot, with three teams of Division III Academic All-Americans released on Tuesday, June 3.
In her first season at CWRU, Utterback compiled an 11-9 record in singles play and 13-7 record in doubles play. She won 70% of her matches as the team's number three singles player and earned All-University Athletic Association honorable mention. Utterback was ranked as high as eighth in the Central Region as a singles player by the ITA during the 2024-25 campaign. In three seasons of collegiate tennis, Utterback had a 28-25 (.528) singles record and 31-21 (.596) doubles record. A graduate student studying health law and bioethics and medical humanities, Utterback has a 4.0 cumulative GPA at CWRU.
McCloskey, a two-time CSC Academic All-America First Team selection, has a 4.0 cumulative GPA as a biomedical engineering student. Playing at first singles and first doubles for CWRU, she earned All-UAA First Team and All-UAA Second Team selections to become the second eight-time All-UAA honoree in program history. McCloskey went 15-8 this season in singles play, including a 9-6 record at first singles, and 21-5 in doubles play, including a 14-4 mark at first doubles. At the end of the regular season, she was ranked 11th in doubles play nationally by the ITA and 39th in singles play. Across her career, she is 56-30 (.651) in singles matches and 84-23 (.785) in doubles matches with her 84 wins the most in program history.
Wang was named to the All-UAA Second Team for her doubles play this season. This season, she has a record of 14-9 in singles play and 19-6 in doubles play, including a 12-4 mark at first doubles. Wang was ranked as high as 10th nationally in doubles play and 18th in the Central Region in singles play during the 2024-25 season. Across three campaigns at CWRU, Wang has 40 singles wins and 49 doubles victories. A cognitive science major with a 3.67 cumulative GPA, she earned her first career Academic All-District honor.
Shukla compiled a 16-8 record this season in singles play, going 5-2 at fourth singles and 6-4 at fifth singles for CWRU in dual matches. In doubles matches, she had a 12-9 overall record, including a 4-4 mark at third doubles. Across three seasons, Shukla went 40-22 in singles play and 27-16 in doubles play. She earned her first career Academic All-District honor as a neuroscience major with a 3.92 cumulative grade point average.
The 2024-25 Academic All-District Women's Tennis Team, selected by CSC, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America program separately recognizes women's tennis honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA.
The Division III CSC Academic All-America program is partially financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2024-25 Division III Academic All-America programs.
CWRU finished its season with a record of 13-7 in dual matches. McCloskey and Wang were selected to compete in the NCAA Doubles Championship and McCloskey will also participate in the NCAA Singles Championship with both tournaments beginning on Saturday, May 24 at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, California.
