Box Score PASADENA, Calif. (Apr. 16, 2022) – On a cool and cloudy Senior Day Saturday morning, the nationally 15th-ranked Beavers' rackets brought the heat in a tour de force against SCIAC rival and No. 39 Occidental in Caltech's final home match of the 2021-22 regular season.
The morning commenced with the tradition of honoring the graduating seniors, namely Matthew Gonzalgo (Plantation, Fla. / St. Thomas Aquinas) and Jake Will (Honolulu, Hawaii / Punahou School), who went a perfect 3-0 in their respective singles and doubles matches.
The ITA West Division's eighth-ranked duo of sophomores Kyle McCandless (Lexington, Mass. / Lexington) and Daniel Wen (McLean, Va. / Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology) powered through first doubles to an 8-5 victory over the top Oxy pair. Following closely in second doubles were sophomore Ishaan Kannan (Scarsdale, N.Y. / Horace Mann) and Will, who trailed 5-2 but staged a monumental comeback to ultimately win their matchup by an 8-6 score, and Caltech would head into the singles session with a 2-1 advantage.
From there, it was near perfection for the Beavers as all six singles competitors claimed victory over the Tigers. Kanaan defended his No. 17 ITA West ranking on Court One by edging past his opponent 7-6 in the first set, racking up a 4-1 lead in set two before winning by retirement. No. 18 McCandless played on Court Two and calmly picked up a 6-2, 6-3 win.
Gonzalgo coasted to a 6-1, 6-2 victory in fourth singles to tally another point after his doubles win, and Wen conceded just one game on Court Five in his 6-0, 6-1 triumph, while Junior Rishi Gundakaram (Wyoming, Del. / Caesar Rodney) cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 win on Court Six.
Will put the exclamation point on the day in third singles, bouncing back from a 4-6 first set with a 6-4 win in set two and a 10-7 tiebreak win, capping a perfect 6-0 in singles play for Caltech.
Up next on the calendar for Head Coach Jason Cohen and the Beavers is the 120th Ojai Valley Tournament from Apr. 22-24.
