ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL – The University of Rochester women's tennis team was defeated by a 4-0 score against #15 Case Western Reserve University on Saturday afternoon at the UAA Tennis Championships in the consolation semifinals at Sanlando Park.
The Spartans (11-6) will move on to the 5th place match at the championship, while URochester (8-11) will play for seventh place. CWRU will face the winner of the Brandeis-NYU matchup in the other consolation semifinal, while the 'Jackets face off against the loser of that matchup.
On Saturday, the Spartans took wins at first and second doubles to earn the early lead after doubles. Hannah Kassaie and Katalina Wang, a nationally-ranked doubles pair, blanked
Jasmin Toor and
Sanjana Karnam at the top spot in the other.
CWRU's Katie Wong and Ellior Rose then earned the doubles-clinching point at two with a 6-2 win against
Neha Dania and
Lauren Kallas. The other doubles match was a 5-2 lead for the Spartans against UR's
Lilly Caldwell and
Esther Wang.
Singles play saw the Spartans quickly move in front 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 win from Prachi Shah against Dania at six.
Kassaie followed with a 6-2, 6-0 win at the number one position against
Katie Yang. Kassaie is the number 33 ranked singles player in Division III currently.
Up 3-0, Case just needed one more point to secure the overall win, with that point being earned by Atra Biria against Karnam at then number four slot. Biria won 6-0, 6-1.
In the other matches, Kallas had the most success in her singles match against Rose at five, only dropping the first set 6-4. She was trailing 2-0 in the second when the overall match wrapped up.
At two, Wang, the #28 Division III player in singles, was a few points away from securing a win against
Hailey Kornbluth, leading 6-2, 5-1 when Case secured the clinching point. The number three match featured Katie Wong against Toor, with Wong leading 6-2, 3-0.
Sunday's final round of play begins at 8:30 am in all four matches at the conference tournament.
