PASADENA, Calif. (Mar. 17, 2022) - In a battle of the Beavers, the No. 22 Caltech men's tennis team played a well-fought match against the No. 27 Babson College Beavers but ultimately fell 5-4 Thursday morning. 

Starting off in doubles, the Beavers were down 0-2 after first and second doubles. On court one, sophomore duo Kyle McCandless(Lexington, Mass. / Lexington) and Daniel Wen(McLean, Va. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology) lost to their opponents 2-8, while sophomore Ishaan Kannan(Scarsdale, N.Y. / Horace Mann) and senior Jake Will(Honolulu, Hawaii / Punahou School) were defeated 6-8 on court two. Looking to decrease Caltech's deficit, junior duo John Kim(Cupertino, Calif. / Menlo School) and Rishi Gundakaram(Wyoming, Del. / Caesar Rodney) would triumph over their opponents in an 8-6 victory. 

Caltech was down 1-2 when heading into the singles portion of the match, fighting nonetheless to close the gap between themselves and the Beavers from back East. At first singles, Kannan forced a third set after his 6-0 win in set two, but unfortunately lost his match 4-6, 6-0, 3-6. McCandless brought the match's score within one point after his 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 victory on court two. At third singles, however, Will's opponent forced a tiebreaker set and defeated the senior 6-3, 2-6, 1-6. Senior Matthew Gonzalgo(Plantation, Fla. / St. Thomas Aquinas) reduced the two-point gap and brought the score to 3-4 with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 win at fourth singles. The point deficit increased once more as Wen lost his match 2-6, 6-1 at fifth singles. Despite Gundakaram's 6-1, 6-2 win at sixth singles, Caltech fell short of a victory with Babson coming out on top 5-4. 

Head Coach Jason Cohen and the No. 22 Caltech Beavers are back in action on Friday, March 18, when they take on the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds at 10:00am. Visit GoCaltech.com for the match's livestream and results.