PASADENA, Calif.  — The No. 13 Caltech men's tennis team hosted the No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags on Friday in a battle of the two remaining teams unbeaten in SCIAC play.

The day began with doubles action, where senior Nathan Zou and junior Andrei Staicu recorded one of the most impressive comebacks in program history. Down 1-6 and then 2-7, the duo stormed all the way back to 7-7 after winning five consecutive must-win games. With 7-7 came the tiebreak, where Zou and Staicu completed the unlikely comeback, 8-7 (7-3).

All the more impressive was the pair's high quality of opponent; the two Beavers topped the West Region's No. 1-ranked singles player in the doubles matchup.

In second doubles, juniors Kyle McCandless and Daniel Wen made quick work of their opponents, cruising to an 8-3 victory. With the win, the duo improves to 9-5 in doubles play, with a perfect 4-0 record when facing conference pairings.

Caltech would just narrowly fall in first doubles, where the pair from CMS topped junior Ishaan Kannan and first-year Andrew Zabelo, 8-7 (7-4).

With a 2-1 lead, Caltech would fight hard in singles play, but the Stags recovered strongly after their performance in doubles.

On Court 4, Wen earned himself an excellent win, notching a 6-4, 7-5 victory over his opponent to improve to 10-4 in singles on the season.

Caltech will take a quick rest Friday night before returning to the courts Saturday at 2 p.m., where they will face off against the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen in another important conference matchup. Please join us as we cheer on the team in their final home match this season. As part of Caltech's Orange Out Event, free food will be available for fans wearing orange and/or Caltech gear.

For those unable to attend the match, Courts 1-4 will be streamed live on Track.Tennis. Live scores will be available via Sidearm Stats.

Follow the men's tennis team on Instagram @caltechmten and Caltech Athletics @caltechbeavers.