From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The top-ranked Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team made history on Sunday morning, winning the University Athletic Association Championship for the first time with a 5-1 victory over third-ranked Washington University (Mo.) at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
By virtue of winning the UAA Championship, CWRU will also claim the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship.
Men's tennis becomes the fourth CWRU team to win a UAA team title during the 2022-23 academic year, joining women's soccer, men's basketball, and softball.
Junior Vishwa Aduru, ranked 14th in the region, provided the historical clinching point at second singles for the Spartans with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Abhi Ramireddy, the second-ranked player in the region, securing the first UAA Championship in program history. Earlier in singles play, senior James Hopper, ranked first in the region, defeated Phuc Huynh, ranked fifth, 6-2, 6-4 at no. 1 singles, and sophomore Ajay Mahenthiran claimed a 6-4, 6-3 win against Colin Scruggs at fifth singles.
The three singles wins were all the Spartans needed after taking two of the three doubles matches from the Bears. In a matchup of the top two doubles teams in the Central Region, Hopper and Aduru bested Ramireddy and Huynh 8-5 to give CWRU a 1-0 advantage. WashU evened the score with an 8-4 win from Matias Maule and Scruggs against junior Sahil Dayal and sophomore Ansh Shah at third doubles, but seniors Diego Maza and Chris Provenzano provided the Spartans with a lead heading into singles play with an 8-6 win over Guarav Singh and Scott Yamamoto at second doubles.
When play was stopped due to decision after Aduru's singles win, sophomore Casey Hishinuma was close to winning at sixth singles, leading Eric Kuo 6-5, 5-4. Shah had split sets with Singh at fourth singles, 6-1, 1-6, 2-3, and senior Michael Sutanto trailed Jared Phillips at third singles 6-7 (5), 1-4.
Sunday's championship match was a meeting of the top two seeded teams at this year's UAA Tournament. The Bears dropped to 17-6 with the loss, with two of their six setbacks coming against the Spartans this season. CWRU previously bested WashU in the ITA Indoor National Championship match in February.
Meanwhile, the Spartans will enter the NCAA Tournament as winners of 14-straight matches following Sunday's victory, which saw the team's record rise to 28-4 overall, already a program record for wins in a season. Included in the team's overall record is a perfect 23-0 mark against Division III teams. This will be the third-straight season that the Spartans will qualify for the NCAA Division III Championship field and the sixth time overall in the program's history. CWRU has finished second at each of the last two NCAA Championships.