From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Case Western Reserve University extended its winning streak to nine matches heading into next week's University Athletic Association Championships, claiming a 9-0 wins over the Rochester Institute of Technology and Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday.
CWRU raised its record to 19-4 overall, three wins shy of the program record for victories in a season, previously set during the 2013 and 2016 campaigns.
The Spartans and the Tigers were able to play the first match of the day outdoors at the Carlton Courts on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. CWRU was dominant in the contest, sweeping all three of the doubles contests and each of the six singles matches en route to their fifth 9-0 victory of the campaign. In doubles play, senior Fred Daum and sophomore John Benedetto bested Chandler Daub and Ben Lynaugh 8-3 at the no. 1 match, sophomore David Zakhodin and freshman Anthony Kanam earned an 8-1 win at no. 2 doubles over Jared Ingoglia and Patrick Mathews, and freshmen Sam Concannon and Zach Hennessey defeated Roger Peckham and Ian Dansereau 8-0 in the third doubles match.
Case Western Reserve was able to maintain momentum in singles play, notching straight-set wins in all six matches. Freshman Siddharth Rajupet claimed a 6-1, 6-3 win over Daub in the first match, while Concannon recorded a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Ingoglia at no. 2 singles. At third singles, Kanam defeated Lynaugh 6-2, 6-1, and freshman Rajeev Laungani picked up a 6-0, 6-1 win over Mathews at fourth singles. Rounding out the sweep, Hennessey topped Spencer Lowitt 6-3, 6-3 at fifth singles and freshman Rohith Koneru defeated Peckham 6-0, 6-0 at sixth singles.
RIT fell to 1-8 overall with the loss.
The Spartans returned outdoors for their second match of the day, collecting their sixth sweep of the season against Ohio Wesleyan. In doubles action, Benedetto and Daum defeated Diego Venegas and Jack Hibbard 8-1 in the first match, seniors Phillip Gruber and James Fojtasek claimed an 8-7 victory over Shouta Fukamachi and Jakraraj Rungaseng at second doubles, and Zakhodin and Kanam topped Aadil Kohari and Felipe Duarte 8-1 at third doubles.
CWRU again went on to win all six singles matches in straight sets. At no. 1 singles, Fojtasek defeated Fukamachi 6-1, 7-5, Rajupet earned a 7-6, 6-1 victory at second singles over Venegas, and sophomore Rob Stroup bested Kohari 7-6, 6-0 at third singles. Rounding out the win were senior Kevin Dong with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Pako Alevizopoulos at fourth singles, senior Josh Dughi with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Elliot Garwood at fifth singles, and Concannon with a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Rungaseng at sixth singles.
Ohio Wesleyan, which picked up a win over RIT earlier in the day, dropped to 15-7 with the loss to the Spartans.