PASADENA (Mar. 7, 2019) – The newly minted 20th-ranked Caltech women's tennis team hosted No. 17 Mary Washington University in a battle of top-20 programs on Friday, and the Beavers found themselves in a position to win thanks to a number of close matches down the stretch.

Caltech got a big doubles win to start the day when senior Kana Moriyama (Redmond, Wash. / Redmond) and sophomore Sarina Liu (Rolling Hills, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) beat Mary Washington's top doubles pair, 8-3, to give the home team a big point heading into singles action. The Beavers and Eagles went on to split singles right down the middle, with freshmen Anna Tifrea (Fullerton, Calif. / Troy) and Jennifer Yu (Queens, N.Y. / Stuyvesant) securing dominant wins at second and fourth singles. Tifrea won her match 6-3, 6-2, while Yu dominated her opponent, 6-0, 6-1 to remain unbeaten in 2019. Liu won at fifth singles, 6-4, 6-1, and freshman Michelle Hyun (Cerritos, Calif. / Gretchen Whitney) nearly came out on top in her third singles match, which would have given Caltech the win had things broken differently. Hyun rallied to win the second set, 6-4, but came up shy in the full third set with a marquee win still up for grabs.

Head Coach Mandy Gamble and the Beavers will resume their season on Tuesday, Mar. 12 when they host Vassar College at 3 p.m.

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