Box Score

Oberlin, Ohio – In a match that pitted the region's seventh-ranked Case Western Reserve Spartans against the No. 8 Yeowomen, it was the visiting Spartans who came out on top as they defeated the Oberlin College women's tennis team, 8-1, on Friday evening at the John W. Heisman Field House.

Case Western Reserve set the tone early by winning all three doubles matches. The Yeowomen were in each match, but the closest was at the No. 2 position were Brenna Sheldon and Preeya Shah were eventually outlasted by an 8-5 count.

Head Coach Constantine Ananiadis elected to shuffle his singles lineup slightly by dropping senior Farah Leclercq down to No. 2 while bumping up Sheldon to the top spot. The strategy nearly resulted in the Yeowomen coming away with two wins.

At No. 1 Sheldon and Sara Zargham battled toe to toe for nearly four hours before the match finally came to an end with Zargham earning a 7-6 (10-8), 3-6, 7-6 (7-4) victory. Sheldon had match point in the third, but was unable to put away the region's fourth ranked player.

“I have been around tennis a long time and that was one of the most well played matches I have seen in a long time,” Coach Ananiadis said. “Both players did not give an inch and hit quality shots throughout.”

Leclercq who is ranked No. 7 in the region was paired up against No. 22 Taylor Sweeny, but she proved to be no problem for the Oberlin ace as Leclercq was a straight set winner with a 6-4, 6-0 score line.

At No. 3 singles Grace Porter took on Surya Khadilkar who came in ranked No. 21 in the region. Porter hung tough in both sets, but was ultimately upended in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.

Shah had a hard fought battle at No. 4, earning 7-6 (7-3) win in the second, however, her opponent Alex Kim won the match by taking sets one and three by identical 6-3 counts.

“We lost to a better team today,” Ananiadis added. “We did not take advantage off some of the opportunities that were afforded to us and you have to do that in order to beat a team like Case. They have a lot depth and are strong all across the lineup. We will learn from our mistakes and take those corrections into our next match.”

The Yeowomen have next week off from competition, but will return to action on Wednesday, March 6, when they host NCAA Division II foe Ashland College at 6:30 p.m.