PASADENA, Calif. – Entering the Beavers lineup for the first time, first-year Anna Szczuka soared past her #6 Singles opponent with a nearly flawless 6-1, 6-1 score as Caltech defeated No. 23 Christopher Newport University on a chilly Wednesday evening.

"All I can say is 'Wow!'" Head Coach Benay Weintraub beamed. "This team has transformed into such a cohesive and resilient group. I am so proud of the effort we displayed against tough opponents this evening."

While the visiting Captains claimed the first point of the day in the doubles session, Caltech's #3 Doubles pair of sophomore Payal Patel and junior Teresa Huang quickly evened things out with an 8-4 win. With all eyes on court two as a resurgent Christopher Newport duo fought back from a three-game deficit to take a lead, sophomore Yoyo Benchetrit and senior Nina Solovyeva rallied to tie the set at 7-7 and force a tiebreak, ultimately prevailing 7-4 in the extra frame and giving the Beavers a 2-1 lead in the match.

Caltech surged ahead in the singles session with all six Beavers winning their initial sets. First to finish was junior Emily Zhang, who coasted to a quick 6-2, 6-2 win, earning the Beavers their third match point and providing uplift to her teammates. 

Patel was next to boost her team's tally, moving up to #5 Singles and winning comfortably in two sets with matching 6-3 scores for her second victory of the day, bringing Caltech within one point of sealing the match. It was her first appearance of the season in the fifth spot as she filled in for junior and mechanical engineering major Athena Kolli, whose prior commitment to Caltech's prestigious Engineering Design Competition, the grand finale of a mechanical engineering course in which teams of students designed and built radio-controlled or autonomous robots to compete for the highest score, ran in conflict with the rescheduled tennis match.

Finally clinching the match was Solovyeva on court four, grinding out a 7-5 first set win before dealing a 6-1 second set defeat to her counterpart and earning the Beavers their third consecutive match win against nationally ranked programs.

"We have navigated the weather and concluding the winter term," Weintraub said. "Despite the craziness, our team has shown up for the task at hand and has shown up for each other. The encouragement from our leaders guided Anna to her first collegiate victory, Nina to clinch the match and Yoyo to battle through one of her toughest matches yet. The power of our team is unreal, and I am excited to see where the season takes us."

Next up for the Beavers will be Washington University (Mo.) in a Monday morning home match on March 13 at 10 a.m. Watch courts 1-4 live on track.tennis and follow live scores at this link.

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