PASADENA, Calif. (Mar. 18, 2022) -  The Caltech men's tennis team have played an incredibly tough stretch of matches against nationally ranked and perennial quality programs over the past several weeks.   That was no different on Friday when the Beavers played host to, and defeated, the Thoroughbreds from Skidmore College 6-3. 

The visitors from Saratoga Springs, New York, demonstrated early on that they were here to take down the #22 ranked Beavers, taking a 2-0 lead through the first two of three doubles matches.  But in a trend that has developed over the past several matches for the host Beavers, the efforts of one of their doubles teams to earn a point has proved crucial.  The number three doubles pair of juniors Rishi Gundakaram (Wyoming, Del. / Caesar Rodney) and John Kim (Cupertino, Calif. / Menlo School) dominated their opponent, winning 8-3 and providing a crucial point and momentum as the match transitioned from doubles to singles with the visitors in the lead 2-1.

Quickly, the individual talent and level of play in singles action turned in favor of the Beavers.  Once again, leading the efforts for Caltech was the play of Gundakaram, who similarly to the team's last match, won both his doubles and singles matches in earning two points for the Beavers.  In singles, he triumphed 6-2, 6-1 to continue his impressive string of matches.  Other Caltech singles wins were by sophomore Ishaan Kanaan (Scarsdale, N.Y. / Horace Mann) whose 7-6, 6-2 victory provided the close out fifth point for Caltech.  Sophomore Kyle McCandless (Lexington, Mass. / Lexington) earned a point for the Beavers by prevailing 5-7, 6-1, 10-3 as did fellow second-year Daniel Wen (McLean, Va. / Thomas Jefferson for Science and Tech) at 6-1, 6-3.  Junior Nathan Zou (Murfreesboro, Tenn. / Central Magnet) was also a winner for the Beavers by the set scores of 6-3, 6-4.

Starting another challenging week of intense competition for Head Coach Jason Cohen and the Beavers will be a test against The Blues of Whitman College from Walla Walla, Washington.  The match begins at 10:30 am on Sunday, March 20, on the Caltech campus.

To follow the 5-2 men's tennis program, and all intercollegiate sports at  Caltech, please log on to www.GoCaltech.com.  You can livestream competitions as well as view live stats and more.