PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech men's tennis team collected a significant number of accomplishments in 2024, including a No. 20 national ranking, a No. 4 regional ranking, three All-SCIAC nods and four ranked victories as part of a 10-win campaign. It was the fifth straight full season in which the program reached double-digit wins. The squad ranked top-4 among SCIAC teams for the majority of the season.

But that's not all: three Beavers attained national rankings with one of those players tying the school record for single-season singles wins.

The superb season began on Feb. 18 as the Beavers hosted the University of California, Santa Cruz. It was a quick win for Caltech, who recovered from a pair of close doubles defeats to sweep singles play and take the match, 7-2. It was the team's fifth straight win over the Banana Slugs.

Senior Daniel Wen (McLean, Va. / Thomas Jefferson HS for Science & Technology) and rookie Tejas Ram (Allen, Texas / Allen) earned the team's lone doubles victory on Court 1 (8-3) before Wen quickly tied things up in singles as he picked up a near-flawless 6-0, 6-1 rout in the #2 spot. Senior Andrei Staicu (Cary, N.C. / Green Hope) finished close behind in a 6-0, 6-2 win on Court 5 before first-year Eric He (Martinsville, N.J. / Bridgewater Raritan) settled with the same score on Court 6.

Senior Kyle McCandless (Lexington, Mass. / Lexington) clinched the team victory on Court 1 as he took down his opponent in matching 6-2 sets. Ram soon won in the third position (2-6, 6-0, 6-2) while fellow newcomer Constantin Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne (Paris / Lycée Jean de La Fontaine) won in the fourth spot, 1-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4).

The group improved to 2-0 on the season a few days later as they defeated No. 20 Brandeis University in another 7-2 clash.

McCandless and Wen gave Caltech its first team point after collecting a 8-6 set win in second doubles before Wen followed with another win in #3 singles, defeating his opponent, 6-2, 7-5, to stay perfect on the season. Sophomore Andrew Zabelo (Florham Park, N.J. / Newark Academy) found momentum on Court 2 and scored the 6-4, 6-1 win; He took on Court 5 where he swept the opening set before his opponent retired due to injury. Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne prevailed with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) score to stay undefeated.

The Beavers went on to defeat Whitman College, 6-3, in a Mar. 16 home clash that saw an early clinch before the group made history six days later, tying the program's highest-ever ranked win in its history as they downed No. 15 Johns Hopkins University, 5-4, at home. The Beavers entered the contest ranked 25th in the nation.

Caltech scored first as Ram and Staicu caught fire in their tiebreak to take Doubles #2, 8-7 (7-2). Johns Hopkins evened the score with a win in Doubles #1, but He and junior Aditya Srinivasan (Rochester, N.Y. / Pittsford Sutherland) pulled the Beavers ahead with a close 8-7 (7-5) victory. The Blue Jays took the lead after taking two singles matches began but Wen soon tied it up at 3-3 after taking his clash in the third spot, 6-3, 7-5.

The final three matches each came down to the third set, with Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne taking Court 2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to put Caltech up 4-3. With the result, the rookie improved to an incredible 8-0 singles record on the year.

A win from Johns Hopkins on Court 4 evened the match at 4-4, leaving everything to #1 singles where McCandless found himself in a 2-5 hole after dropping his second set, 2-6. Unwilling to concede, McCandless survived multiple match points, rallying to tie the set up 5-5 and earn some breathing room. The senior then electrified the Caltech fans 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.

"Honestly, 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."

The monumental victory kicked off an incredible five-match win streak for the Beavers, who next cruised to a 7-2 win over Pacific University (Ore.). It was a quick result as all six Beavers won their singles matches; no Caltech player dropped a single set across all six courts. It was a quick turnaround as the group took on No. 33 George Fox University the following morning, taking down the Bruins, 5-4.

An 8-6 win from McCandless and Wen in #1 Doubles put Caltech on the board before He won on Court 5 (6-0, 6-1) and Ram took Court 6 (6-4, 6-3). Wen made it four straight team points for Caltech after taking Court 4 in a pair of 6-4 set scores before Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne found his rhythm to clinch the Beaver victory (6-1, 1-6, 6-2).

The Beavers' fourth straight win came just days later as they topped No. 50-ranked Colby College, 5-4. Caltech jumped out to the 3-0 quick lead after sweeping doubles before dropping their first match on Court 6; it was not long until the Beaver secured the clinch, however, as Wen won on Court 4 (6-4, 6-0) and He coasted to a victory on Court 5 (6-0, 6-2). With the win, Caltech moved up to No. 20 nationally and No. 4 in the West region.

Caltech opened up SCIAC play with a 7-2 victory against Whittier College at home to make five wins in a row and five straight against the Poets. McCandless and Wen set the tone with an 8-1 win in #1 doubles before Srinivasan and He secured the 8-2 victory on Court 3. Caltech went on to win five of the six singles matches.

The team picked up its penultimate win of the year on Apr. 13 as the Beavers swept rival Occidental College, 9-0. It was a dominant showing across board for Caltech, who saw all but one match end in straight sets.

The Beavers earned one more win in its final road match, downing Cal Lutheran University 8-1 to make it five straight full seasons of double-digit victories. Every match but one finished in straight sets.

After topping the national 41st-ranked and regional 8th-ranked player in the team's final match against CMS, Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne tied the school record in single-season singles wins, with 15 as part of an incredible 15-3 record. The French native ranked as high as 39th nationally and eighth regionally in singles in his first season; he finished the year 5-2 vs. SCIAC foes.

McCandless graduates after ranking as high as 42nd nationally and ninth in the region this spring; he too posted a 5-2 record in SCIAC play. The Massachusetts native concludes his career with 27 singles wins and 31 doubles wins; the latter puts him fifth all-time in Caltech Men's Tennis history, achieved in just three seasons with no athletics contested in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

McCandless and Wen finished the year 11-5 in doubles; they ranked as high as No. 2 in the region and No. 20 in the nation. Together with Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne, it was the first time in program history in which three players held a national ranking concurrently.

Wen, who ranked as high as 16th regionally for singles, wrapped up the year with an 11-5 singles record (4-2 vs. SCIAC) and on an impressive hot streak as he took 10 of his final 12 matches. The veteran finishes his career in the program history books across multiple categories; perhaps most notably, second all-time for career singles wins, with 37. The accomplished star also cemented his name in the program's doubles record books, tying for second all-time in single-season doubles wins (12, this season) and career doubles wins (32). Like McCandless, these totals were achieved in just three seasons of play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

First Team All-SCIAC was awarded to McCandless — his third straight All-Conference nod — while Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne received Second Team honors along with Wen, who received the distinction for the second straight year. E. He ended the year with a team-best six SCIAC wins as part of a 6-1 conference record.

McCandless received Academic All-America honors in June for performing "at an elite level" in his sport and in the classroom; he was named Scholar of the Year at the Caltech Student-Athlete Celebration.

Head coach Adam Clark expressed joy with the energy, effort and attitude from this year's Beavers.

"Through all the highs and lows this year this group never lost faith in each other and they were always there to pick each other up in the tough moments and they were also ready to celebrate the big wins," said Clark. "What a wild ride it has been and I'm so happy this group got to go through it together."

The program loses several players to graduation but will return a strong group of young players in addition to a number of impressive newcomers. Stay tuned for a schedule release later this summer.

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