PASADENA, Calif. (Feb. 21, 2015) – Sophomore Ruthwick Pathireddy (Irvine, Calif. / Whitney) staked his claim at #1 singles with a comeback superbreaker victory at the top spot against No. 19 Whittier College on Saturday morning.

Box Score

Caltech dips to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the SCIAC while Whittier evens its record at 1-1 (1-0).

The Poets took a 2-1 lead in doubles play, cruising to an 8-4 win at #2 and getting a break on the final game for the 8-6 win at #1.  Juniors Ishan Mehta (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) and Alexander Henny (Scarborough, Maine / Scarborough) pulled out a thriller at court #3, though, going up a break early only to give it back toward the end to force a tiebreak, where the Beavers won it, 7-4. 

Whittier started singles play on fire, getting early breaks on three courts and taking a 3-1 lead with a quick 6-1, 6-1 win at #5.  Victories at #2 and #3 singles clinched the match, but not before both Pathireddy and Mehta forced superbreakers at opposite ends of the lineup.  Sophomore Morgan Lebby (Laguna Beach, Calif. / Laguna Beach) fell at #4 after narrowly dropping the first set tiebreak, 7-6 (5), and Mehta bowed out at 10-4 to leave just court #1 still playing.  Pathireddy vaulted ahead after a marathon sixth game and went on to take the second set, 7-5, after falling 2-6 in the first, then pulled out the breaker to avoid the singles sweep and record his first career win leading the lineup.

Head Coach Mandy Gamble and the Beavers will take a break from SCIAC play with the first of seven non-conference matches against Hope International University (0-7) on Friday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m.