PASADENA, Calif. – The No. 25 Caltech men's tennis team took on the No. 15 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays Friday afternoon, emerging victorious after a match for the ages that spanned more than four hours and wasn't decided until the final singles match finished.
"I am so proud of this team and their commitment to each other," Head Coach Adam Clark said. "It took a lot of heart and guts from every single guy on this team to pull this win off, and I'm just so happy for them."
The day began with a trio of enthralling doubles bouts, with both sides keeping things close and two of the matches going to tiebreaks. Caltech scored first as Tejas Ram (Allen, Texas / Allen) and Andrei Staicu (Cary, N.C. / Green Hope) caught fire in their tiebreak to win Doubles #2 by a 8-7 (7-2) score.
Johns Hopkins evened the match with a win in Doubles #1, but then Eric He (Martinsville, N.J. / Bridgewater Raritan) and Aditya Srinivasan (Rochester, N.Y. / Pittsford Sutherland) pulled the Beavers ahead again with a close 8-7 (7-5) Doubles #3 victory.
After a five-minute break, the six singles matches commenced, and Johns Hopkins claimed match points in Singles #6 and #5 in order, pulling ahead of the Beavers by three match points to two. Not to let the Blue Jays gain any more momentum, Daniel Wen (McLean, Va. / Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology) fought back to win #3 Singles by set scores of 6-3 and 7-5. The remaining three singles matchups all opened with split sets, so all eyes were on Courts 1, 2 and 4 for full third sets.
First-year Constantin Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne (Paris / Lycée Jean de La Fontaine) put Caltech back on top, recovering from a middle set loss to scream through his deciding set for a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 score in Singles #2. The reliable rookie leads the Beavers with a jaw-dropping 8-0 singles record in dual matches this season.
Meanwhile a late surge by He's rival on Court 4 evened the match at 4-4, leaving everything to #1 Singles as senior Kyle McCandless (Lexington, Mass. / Lexington) found himself in a 5-2 hole after dropping his second set 6-2. Unwilling to concede, McCandless survived multiple Johns Hopkins match points, rallying to tie the set up 5-5 and earn some breathing room. His comeback complete, he electrified the Caltech fans in attendance with a critical break of his rival's serve for a 6-5 lead. He never trailed in the following game, and his final serve was returned into the net for the 7-5 final score, sending his teammates into a frenzy and storming the court in celebration.
"Honstely, I was thinking I had to keep my head up and keep fighting hard no matter what, for all of the third set," McCandless said of his singles battle. "Tactically, I was trying to find the right balance between offense and defense. I love the team and didn't want to let them down, and the Caltech fans were so supportive."
Coach Clark spoke highly of his squad's resilience and indomitable spirit. "We've battled through so much adversity this year, and with everything we face these guys keep coming back even stronger every day," he said. "This is a special group of guys and the sky is the limit for them this year. Trust us, we aren't done here!"
The Beavers will return to their home courts next Tuesday, Mar. 26 to face Pacific University (Forest Grove, Ore.). Follow the team on Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.
