The No. 20 Case Western Reserve University men’s tennis team had a dominant win at home this weekend, sweeping Franciscan University of Steubenville at the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion.

“[Our original scheduled games] fell through, so Franciscan was looking to play a ranked team and get better,” said third-year player Rob Stroup. “[The past weekend] gave good momentum and [we’re] ready to take on stronger opponents.”

This was the Spartans’ third sweep of the season, improving the team’s overall record to 10-8. Because Franciscan sported a smaller team, CWRU only had its most experienced players on the court.

The match kicked off with the doubles setting a strong tone for the series, with fourth-year player James Fojtasek and second-year player Anthony Kanam winning their match 8-5. Second-year players Sam Concannon and Zach Hennessey picked up an 8-2 win, while Stroup and second-year player Siddharth Rajupet followed suit with an 8-2 win.

“These guys can lay, but they’re not sharp,” Stroup said. “[They] make more errors, a stronger opponent wouldn’t.”

In single matches, four Spartans managed to win perfect 6-0, 6-0 games, spreading the “love” on the court. Fojtasek beat second-year player Jake Haffner at first singles, Kanam defeated fourth-year player Jarek Sulak at second singles, Stroup bested fourth-year player Connor Jooste at fourth singles while Hennessey topped second-year player Jack Galla at sixth singles. Concannon took a 6-1, 6-4 win at third singles, while Rajupet nearly joined the club with a 6-0, 6-1 victory at fifth singles.

“Sam [Concannon] dropped a game in the first set, and [barely pulled through] a tough second set, so Coach [jokingly] chewed him out,” Stroup said.  

The Spartans will head to Kalamazoo, Michigan to take on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on April 14 and the host school No. 31 Kalamazoo College on April 15.    

“We’re going to use this weekend for preparation for the [University Athletic Association] tournament,” Stroup said. “We are going to take Kalamazoo seriously.”