CMS Women's Tennis Heads Back to Nationals after 5-0 Regional Title Win over Case Western

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Nikolina Batoshvili won in both singles and doubles, and Gabby Lee and Sydney Lee won 8-0 in doubles for the second straight day, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team captured a 5-0 win over Case Western in the regional finals of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, CMS improves to 24-3 on the year and will advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals on May 23 in Orlando, where it will face the winner of the regional final between MIT and Williams. The SCIAC is guaranteed to have one other team as well, as Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer will meet in tomorrow's regional finals in Dallas for the right to face Middlebury in Orlando.

CMS dropped only five games in doubles combined on three courts, led by an 8-0 win from Gabby Lee and Sydney Lee, who improved to 16-0 at nationals this year after winning 8-0 against SUNY-Oneonta yesterday in the second round. Batoshvili and Alisha Chulani took an 8-2 win at No. 1, and senior Devon Wolfe and Sarah Bahsoun earned an 8-3 win at No. 3. 

The Athenas then took the first set in singles on four of five courts (Bahsoun was in a first-set tiebreaker 6-6 when the match was clinched). Brissett and Batoshvili finished in quick succession with identical 6-2 scores in their second sets. Audrey Yoon was pulling away in the second set of her match at No. 3, leading 6-4, 3-0, and Sydney Lee was up 6-4, 2-1 at No. 2. 

CMS won regional titles for nine straight years from 2011-19, before the two-year break due to the COVID pandemic. In 2018, the Athenas won the national title at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, and in 2019, they finished as runner-up to Wesleyan at Kalamazoo. 

A rematch with Wesleyan could loom again in the national semifinals if both teams advance that far in Orlando. Pomona-Pitzer, and No. 1 Chicago, are in the other half of the bracket and CMS would not have to face either until the national championship match.