Over the past weekend, the Case Western Reserve University women’s tennis team traveled down south to Georgia to play Berry College, Babson College and Emory University.
The No. 17-ranked Spartans delivered a dominant performance against Berry on Friday, April 11. Graduate student Laurel Utterback and third-year Katalina Wang set the tone with a flawless 6-0 win at second doubles. First-year Maya Brink and second-year Katie Wong secured the doubles point with a 6-2 victory at third doubles, and fourth-years Lily McCloskey and Anna Kan completed the sweep at first doubles with a tight 7-5 win over the Vikings.
In singles play, Wong earned a point at fifth singles after her opponent retired, and Wang followed with a strong 6-3, 6-3 win at second singles. Third-year Asha Shukla clinched the match for CWRU with a 6-3 victory at fourth singles. Second-year Prachi Shah added another point, winning 6-1, 6-2 at sixth singles, and Kan battled through three sets to take third singles 6-2, 3-7 (3-7), 10-4.
This marked the Spartans’ first matchup against Berry, and with the victory, they improved to 11-3 on the season.
On Saturday, the Spartans faced off against No. 15-ranked Babson, ultimately falling 2-5 in the match. Babson opened strong, sweeping all three doubles matches with scores of 7-5 at first doubles, 6-3 at second and 6-4 at third to claim the opening point.
In singles, the Beavers struck first again with a win on court two, but Kan responded for CWRU with a solid 6-2, 6-3 victory at fourth singles. Babson extended their lead after a tightly contested battle at first singles between two nationally ranked players. Wong earned the Spartans’ second point of the day, posting a 6-1, 6-4 win at sixth singles.
With the match hanging in the balance, CWRU needed wins in both remaining contests. However, Babson clinched the overall victory with a 6-2, 6-4 result at fifth singles. At third singles, Wang forced a deciding third set but ultimately fell 2-6, 6-4, 2-6, sealing the 5-2 loss for the Spartans.
To wrap up the weekend, the Spartans traveled to Atlanta to take on No. 3-ranked and UAA opponent Emory. The Spartans suffered a tough loss, falling 0-7 against the Eagles. Emory claimed the doubles point with wins at third and second doubles, 6-2 and 6-3, respectively. However, CWRU’s top duo of McCloskey and Wang earned a hard-fought 7-6 (7-3) victory at first doubles over Emory’s No. 3-ranked team. McCloskey and Wang entered the match as the second-ranked doubles pair in the Central Region.
In singles, the Eagles swept all six matches to secure the overall win. Despite the final result, several Spartans put up a strong fight. Wang battled through three sets at third singles before falling 6-2, 2-6, 0-6. Utterback also pushed her nationally fifth-ranked and regionally ninth-ranked opponent to a third set but came up short 4-6, 6-4, 5-10.
The Spartans currently hold an 11-5 record this season and are set to take on Allegheny College on April 18. Following that matchup, they will head into the UAA Championship from April 24–26, where they’ll face familiar opponents in Emory, New York University and Carnegie Mellon University, teams they’ve already matched up against earlier in the season.