REDLANDS, Calif. – Down 2-1 going into singles after facing two of the region's top-ranked doubles pairs in the opening session, Caltech Women's Tennis won five of the six following singles matches to claim a 6-3 victory over SCIAC rival University of Redlands Friday afternoon.
"This win was one of the best and most exciting for Caltech Tennis so far this year," Head Coach
Benay Weintraub said. "The support and enthusiasm was off the charts. This season we have proved to ourselves, and to all of Division III, that we are one of the grittiest teams in the national rankings."
Junior
Athena Kolli and sophomore
Payal Patel teamed up for Caltech's first match point of the day, denying the Bulldogs a sweep of the doubles session with an 8-6 triumph on Court 3 before the intermission.
While the hosts picked up another match point with a quick win in the third singles pairing, it was all Caltech for the rest of the day. Patel grabbed another point in fifth singles with matching 6-3 set wins, cutting Redlands' overall lead to 3-2. Then came a gritty comeback on Court 6 as
Anna Szczuka picked up a quick 6-2 first set win. She then fell behind 4-1 in her second set but won five games in a row to win it by a 6-4 score, and the Beavers and Bulldogs were suddenly knotted up at 3-3.
Yoyo Benchetrit, ranked 18th in the West for singles play, rebounded from a 6-4 first set defeat to win the second and third sets by 6-3 scores, pulling Caltech within one point of clinching the match.
In the end it was
Emily Zhang who completed the upset win for Caltech in come-from-behind fashion. Holding a No. 17 regional singles ranking sharing the court with No. 15 Kendall Bolock, Zhang recovered from a 6-0 first set loss and surged ahead to 6-3 and 6-2 set wins. And senior
Nina Solovyeva, playing what Coach Weintraub described as her best tennis of the season, perservered with a 7-5 first set win before comfortably taking the second one 6-3.
The two teams hold adjacent spots in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, with the Beavers holding the national No. 16 rank and the fifth spot in the ITA West region, while the Redlands Bulldogs are just one spot ahead of Caltech in both polls.
The Beavers are right back at it tomorrow, on the road against Chapman University at 2 p.m.
