Four members of the Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team - junior Santiago Salazar Garza, senior Matthew Plunkett, senior Anmay Devaraj, and graduate student Bryce Ware - were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team based on their athletic and academic achievements during the 2025-26 campaign.
Devaraj earned the honor for the second consecutive year, while Salazar Garza and Plunkett claimed it for the second time. Ware, in his first season with the Spartans, was a two-time Academic All-America First Team selection as an undergraduate student at Kansas Wesleyan University.
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. All four Spartans were selected to advance to the Academic All-America ballot, with three teams of Division III Academic All-Americans released on Wednesday, June 3.
Salazar Garza was named to the All-University Athletic Association Second Team for his play at no. 1 singles and an honorable mention for his work at no. 2 doubles. He is currently ranked 23rd nationally and sixth in the Central Region in singles play, as he recorded a 21-12 record during the year, and was selected to compete in the singles draw at the NCAA Individual Championships. He is also 13-6 in doubles action this season. Salazar Garza, a chemical engineering major, has a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA and has received UAA All-Academic and ITA Scholar-Athlete honors over his career.
Coming off a 2-0 week at no. 2 singles for the Spartans in the team's first two NCAA Tournament matches, Plunkett stands at 18-12 overall in singles matches this year. He is currently the 29th-ranked singles player in Division III, in addition to being ranked 11th in the Central Region. Plunkett is a finance and economics major with a 3.947 cumulative GPA, and has been named to the UAA All-Academic and ITA Scholar-Athlete teams three times each over his career.
Devaraj has anchored the no. 3 singles and no. 3 doubles positions throughout the year for the Spartans this season, following an All-America season in 2025 for his play at doubles. This year, he has notched a 9-13 overall singles record while going 17-11 in doubles contests. Devaraj has a 3.918 cumulative GPA as a finance major and has received both UAA All-Academic and ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition over his career.
Ware has a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA during his collegiate career, which includes his time as an undergraduate at Kansas Wesleyan, and is currently working toward his Master's of Business Administration at CWRU. He is currently a part of the nationally sixth-ranked (second in the Central Region) doubles pairing with Trey Lambright and has gone 25-10 in doubles matches this season. He has also gone 12-5 in singles matches this year, and earned All-UAA recognition at no. 1 doubles (first team) and no. 6 singles (honorable mention). Ware provided the clinching win at no. 6 singles during the team's victory over 15th-ranked Mary Washington on Sunday in the third round of the NCAA Championship.
The Spartans, ranked fifth in Division III, have advanced to the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals for the sixth-consecutive season in 2026, and will face third-ranked Denison on Tuesday, May 19, at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee. CWRU stands at 28-8 this season and placed second at the UAA Championship.
