National

Case Western makes SportsCenter Top 10 on way to ITA Indoors title

Arthur Kapetanakis | March 02, 2022


The Case Western University men's tennis team won the 2022 ITA Division III National Team Indoor Championships in style on Sunday.

 

Not only did the top-seeded Spartans defeat the University of Chicago, 5-1, to earn their first ITA Indoors title, they also made SportsCenter's Top 10 plays thanks to a sensational volley winner from freshman standout James Hopper. (Watch the stunning shot below.)

 

The Cleveland-based host school got off to a stong start in the final with a 3-0 lead after doubles play, before closing the match out on the singles courts. It was at the No. 1 doubles spot where Hopper's spinning volley lit up the Mayfield Village Racquet Club.

Case Western Reserve poses with their ITA title. Photo courtesy of the ITA.

The shot earned the No. 2 spot on Sunday's SportsCenter Top 10, and helped Popper and teammate Jonathan Powell earn an 8-7 victory at the top spot.

Hopper, a freshman from Montgomery, N.J.,  was also up a set on Chicago's Arjun Asokumar at the No. 1 singles spot before his team clinched the title, leaving that matchup unfinished. A biomedical engineering major, Hopper is the ITA's No. 6-ranked player in Division III; he and Powell are also the sixth-ranked doubles pairing in the divison.

 

The women of Barry University won the DII ITA Indoors title on Wednesday, taking out hosts Central Oklahoma in the championship match. The ITA's top-ranked team recorded a trio of 4-0 sweeps on their way to the title as they backed up their 2020 Indoors crown.

 

Barry also won the DII men's event on Feb. 20, defeating Columbus State, 4-3, in the final.

 

The DIII women's event will take place March 4-6 in Danvile, Ky.

 

The North Carolina women and TCU men won the DI events last month, propelling themselves up the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25 Rankings. It was a third straight title for the Tar Heels, and a first national championship for TCU.

 

For more on the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, visit the ITA website.

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