PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech men's tennis team proved itself a commanding force in 2023.

It was a season of accomplishments for the group, who earned a 5-2 conference record, a No. 13 national ranking and a No. 3 regional ranking in Division III. The team earned second place in the conference standings before reaching the SCIAC Tournament finals where they competed for the conference title, falling just one win short of qualifying for the NCAA Championship Tournament.

But that's not all: at the season's close, three Beavers were named all-conference, with one player attaining a national singles ranking. The team and all 11 players on the roster earned Academic Honors by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

Under the leadership of head coach Matt Brisotti, the team would reach 12 total wins on the season — the program's fourth straight full season with at least 11 victories. After reaching a 5-2 record in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), it also became the fourth straight full season that Caltech has reached the semifinal round of the conference championship tournament.

It all began with a phenomenal opening winning streak by the team, who won five straight matches to open the season – four of which came over nationally-ranked opponents.

2023 began with a Feb. 17 battle against No. 39 UC Santa Cruz at home, where the Beavers picked up the 6-3 victory. The team got out to a 2-1 advantage after doubles, with juniors Kyle McCandless and Daniel Wen earning the 8-6 win on Court 1 and seniors Rishi Gundakaram and Nathan Zou cruising to an 8-2 victory on Court 3. Wen picked up a quick victory in fourth singles (6-0, 6-0), before Gundakaram earned the win on Court 6 (6-2, 6-3). McCandless clinched the victory for the squad on Court 1, earning the 6-4, 6-4 win.

The group continued its momentum three days later in a Monday home clash with No. 27 Brandeis University. It was a come-from-behind victory for the Beavers, who won the contest 5-4 after going down 1-2 after doubles play.

The team defeated the No. 28 Ganet of Swarthmore College in its third game of the campaign as the group toughed out another 5-4 win. Highlighting the day was Wen, who scooped the win in first doubles with McCandless, 8-3, before topping a high-level opponent in fourth singles (6-3, 6-0).

It was yet another 5-4 victory on Mar. 12 as the group faced its highest-ranked opponent yet in the No. 22 University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee, at home.

The matchup would prove to be a marathon match, with the two squads battling for over four hours before coming to a close. After going up 2-1 in doubles action, every player in the six singles pairings won a set, requiring a decisive third set on every court. Junior Ishaan Kannan gave the team its third point on Court 2 after topping the opponent by a score of 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4, before first-year Zabelo scooped the 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-3 victory in third singles. Junior Victor Li earned the clincher with a score of 7-8 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4. The Beavers continued its undefeated streak after hosting Whitman College at home, where Caltech won all six singles matches en route to the 8-1 victory and a perfect 5-0 record.

On Mar. 27, the team held onto its highest-ever national ranking – No. 13 – for the second straight poll. The group first achieved the record spot on Mar. 10.

Caltech would go on another win streak later in the month, beginning with a win over their strongest opponent yet in the No. 19 Southwestern University Pirates in Georgetown, Texas. The Beavers steamrolled the home squad, picking up the dominant 7-2 win before returning to Pasadena, where they made quick work of the Whittier College Poets in their SCIAC-opening match, scooping the 8-1 win.

The group then traveled eastwards for their first conference roadie, where they faced the No. 32 University of Redlands on Apr. 4. It was another quick clinch for Caltech, who secured the win after just two singles matches following the Beavers' 3-0 doubles sweep.

Wins over No. 33 Chapman University, Cal Lutheran and No. 31 Occidental College highlighted the remainder of the regular season, which saw McCandless earn a win over the No. 17-ranked singles player in the region before joining Wen for doubles over the No. 2-ranked regional duo.

Caltech ended the regular season with a 5-2 conference record; they earned second-place in the final SCIAC standings, finishing ahead of every team but the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags.

By finishing in the top-four teams, the squad qualified for the SCIAC Postseason Tournament semifinal, where they hosted third-place finisher Redlands in a rematch of the Beavers' earlier-season victory. It was an intense showing of high-level tennis from both teams, who fought for every point with a spot at the conference championship final on the line.

Zou and Gundakaram gave Caltech the 1-0 lead after securing an 8-5 win in third doubles, though Redlands would quickly tie it up on Court 1, with the No. 1 duo in the region grabbing the 8-4 victory. The fans then descended on Court 2, where McCandless and Wen forced a 7-7 tiebreak before defeating their opposites 7-3 in the extra frame and putting Caltech ahead 2-1 overall. Gundakaram finished first in singles play on Court 6 (6-1, 6-1), though Redlands would erase the Beaver lead with wins in first and third singles.

With the score tied 3-3, the Beavers needed to win two of the three remaining matchups to move on to the championship final.

Kannan, who came in ranked 23rd in the West Region, faced regional No. 22 Stefan Hester on Court 2 in what proved to be a closely-matched contest. After winning the first set 6-4, Kannan dropped the second set 1-6 before returning to form in the decider with a 6-4 victory, giving the Beavers the 4-3 advantage. This was soon matched by Redlands, however, who tied the contest at four points a piece in fifth singles, leaving the result of the match down to Wen on Court 4.

After winning 6-3 win in his first set and dropping a 7-5 breaker in the second, Wen battled valiantly in the critical third set. With the set score at 6-6, Wen surged ahead in the tiebreaker by a score of 5-1. After conceding one last point, and nearly four full hours after the first serves of the day, Wen watched as his opponent's lob shot floated over the net and landed just wide of the singles line. He collapsed to the ground under the weight of the historic victory as his teammates stormed the court and the largest tennis crowd of the season exploded in cheers.

"It was an amazing effort today from the men," Brisotti said. "We knew we were going to have to keep digging deep and that's exactly what we did."

The men's special 2023 campaign would end in the conference championship match to the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags, who later advanced to the semifinals of the Div. III national tournament.

Three Beavers were named to the All-SCIAC teams for the second consecutive year, with McCandless and Kannan achieving First Team honors and Wen attaining Second Team.

McCandless played the entire singles season at the first line; he finished the year ranked 12th in the region and 48th in the nation in the Div. III rankings. Kannan ended the year 22nd in regional singles, while Wen sported a team-high 14 singles wins as part of a 14-4 overall record and a perfect 7-0 record in conference play. His 14 wins fell just one shy of tying the program's all-time single-season record. The partnership of McCandless and Wen picked up 11 doubles wins — one victory short of tying Caltech's record in single-season doubles partnership wins. The two juniors went 5-2 in conference play.

Four Beavers earned Academic All-District recognition before the team and all 11 players earned ITA Academic Honors.

The team will compete in ITA Regional play this fall before beginning the regular portion of their season in 2023. Stay tuned for an official schedule and newcomer release later this summer.

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