PASADENA (Mar. 16, 2019) - No. 29 Caltech men's tennis rallied to win four three-set matches and claim the Beavers' highest ranked victory in program history over No. 22 Tufts University on Saturday afternoon.
Rookie Patryk Kozlowski (Irvine, Calif. / University High) was the only double winner for Caltech, including notching the clincher at fifth singles while classmate Matthew Gonzalgo (Plantation, Fla. / St. Thomas Aquinas) stepped up a court in the absence of sophomore James Wei (Chappaqua, N.Y. / Horace Greeley) to pick up his first career victory at court two.
After going down by a break at all three doubles courts, the Beavers escaped with a point at court 2 as Kozlowski and junior Connor Soohoo (Redwood Shores, Calif. / Crystal Springs) edged out their opponents in a tiebreak, with Gonzalgo and sophomore Kevin Yu (Mason, Ohio / Cincinnati Country Day) coming up just short in a tiebreak of their own at third doubles.
Tufts held the early momentum in singles, claiming the first set on four courts while narrowly dropping the other two.
The nation's top-ranked player, Boris Sorkin, earned the Jumbos' third point with a 6-2, 6-4 win at the top court, but that was exactly when the hosts began to assert themselves. Yu, junior Miha Valencic (Colleyville, Texas / Grapevine) and Kozlowski forced third sets on courts three through five just before senior Derik Nguyen (Anaheim, Calif. / Canyon) finished off his match at court six in straight sets (7-6, 6-1). Valencic quickly evened the match at 3-3 and was soon followed by Yu, suddenly bringing the Beavers within one point of victory. Kozlowski was first to the finish line with his 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 decision by mere moments as Gonzalgo had fought back from being down 3-5 in his third set to force a tiebreaker, which he put away (7-5, 1-6, 7-6 [4]) for a 6-3 final score.
Head Coach Jason Cohen and the Beavers return to their home courts tomorrow, Sunday, Mar. 17 for a 2 p.m. match with Hobart College.
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