PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech women's tennis team posted a plethora of achievements this past season as they earned a spot in the SCIAC Tournament semifinals, collected four ranked wins and ranked as high as No. 27 nationally and No. 5 regionally.

The squad secured the 4-seed in the four-team SCIAC Tournament after winning four of their seven regular season conference matches; it was the program's second SCIAC playoff appearance in three years.

At the individual level, one Beaver attained a regional singles ranking while one other was tabbed for All-SCIAC honors at the conclusion of the season.

Action officially kicked off on Feb. 22 as the Beavers won four singles matches in a narrow defeat to No. 26 Brandeis University, though the group rebounded in their following contest with a 7-2 statement win over No. 33 Vassar College.

The Beavers jumped out to the early lead after sweeping all three doubles matches, beginning with a fast 8-3 victory by senior duo Athena Kolli (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / Adlai E. Stevenson) and Emily Zhang (Sharon, Mass. / Sharon) on Court 3. Minutes later, juniors Yoyo Benchetrit (Toronto / St. Clements) and Anika Arora (Fremont, Calif. / Mission San Jose) won on Court 2 with an 8-5 score.

Meanwhile, Doubles #1 was locked in a tight battle with first-years Hannah Ramsperger (Zürich / Realgymnasium Rämibühl Zürich) and Anna Tanaka (Honolulu / IMG Academy) fighting against the visiting Brewers' top pairing. Neither side could gain more than a one-game lead until Vassar pulled ahead 7-5. Undeterred, the Beaver pair responded with two wins of their own to force a seven-point tiebreak, which they won by a comfortable 7-4 margin to seal the doubles sweep for Caltech.

Needing just two more match points to clinch, the Beavers took care of business in just over an hour as Arora raced to victory in #3 Singles with matching 6-2 sets. Tanaka finished the job on Court 6 with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph for the deciding point. Benchetrit added another singles win on Court 2 (6-2, 6-1) before junior Payal Patel (Cumming, Ga. / South Forsyth) held on for a 6-1, 7-5 win in the fifth spot as Caltech collected the 7-2 team win.

Caltech scooped its second win of the season against another nationally-ranked opponent as they downed No. 40 Whitman College, 6-3, at home.

The Institute won the doubles session after Zhang and Arora took Court 1, 8-6, before Patel and Ramsperger outlasted their foes in a 7-5 tiebreak to claim an 8-7 victory.

Sophomore Anna Szczuka (Scotch Plains, N.J. / Scotch-Plains Fanwood) gave Caltech its first singles point after quickly topping her foe, 6-2, 6-1, though the Blues responded with a pair of singles wins to tie things up at 3-3. Whitman would not win any of the remaining three matches, however, as Patel pulled out a 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4 win on Court 4 before Ramsperger clinched the win with a come-from-behind victory on Court 2 (3-6, 6-4, 7-5). Rookie Ritali Jain (San Jose, Calif. / Evergreen Valley) put an exclamation mark on the day after taking #6 singles (6-4, 4-6, 6-4) for her first collegiate win.

The team picked up another significant victory in the group's penultimate nonconference clash of the year as they beat Pacific University (Ore.) by a score of 6-3.

It was again a strong doubles showing from the Beavers, who saw a quick 8-2 win on Court 3 from Tanaka and Zhang before Arora and Benchetrit secured the 8-2 victory on Court 2 minutes later.

Caltech earned its third match point in record time as Patel posted a perfect 6-0, 6-0 performance in the sixth spot before Szczuka completed a near-perfect set score of 6-1, 6-0 in fifth singles. With the victory, Szczuka improved to 4-0 in singles play for the year and 11-2 for her career.

Benchetrit made it two wins in a day as she clinched the victory for Caltech on Court 3 with an impressive 6-0, 6-1 showing before her doubles partner, Arora, did the same with a 6-3, 6-1 win on Court 4. In the first spot, Zhang forced a talented opponent who ranked 12th in the nation last November into a third-set tiebreak, narrowly falling 6-4, 2-6, 0-1 (6-10).

The Beavers soon focused their attention to SCIAC play, where they kicked off the interconference season with a commanding 7-2 win over Whittier College at home. Patel and Zhang connected for a dominant 8-3 win in first doubles before Caltech swept all six singles matches in straight sets.

Zhang picked up a historic victory days later as she topped No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripp's top-ranked player. The Beaver came from behind to upset the 21st-ranked standout, 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (12-10).

Caltech's third ranked win came on Apr. 12 as Caltech trumped No. 38 Chapman, 6-3, with an early clinch. Zhang and Tanaka wrapped up first with a 8-3 performance on Court 2 before Patel and Ramsperger picked up an 8-2 win from the third position moments later.

The Beavers soon went up 4-1 after a 6-2, 6-2 showing from Patel in the fifth position and a 6-1, 6-3 victory from Tanaka in the sixth spot. Arora clinched the match in the third position with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) performance on Court 3 before Szczuka added one more team point from Court 4 with a 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-2) win. The New Jersey native won eight straight points in the 10-point tiebreak to nab the victory.

For her massive singles win against the nationally-ranked CMS player and her 8-2 doubles win to help Caltech to the 6-3 victory over No. 38 Chapman, Zhang was awarded SCIAC Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week.

With the SCIAC playoff race tightening, the Beavers locked in for their final few matches, including a 6-3 win over Occidental College at home. The clash saw Patel and Ramsperger link up again for a commanding 8-2 win on Court 3 before the Beavers showed their singles prowess, taking victories on five of the six courts to cruise to a critical team win. Highlighting the action was the tenacity of Zhang, who defeated the No.-13 ranked player in the region, 6-4, 6-3.

The team then guaranteed a spot in the four-team SCIAC Postseason Tournament after taking down No. 50 Cal Lutheran University, 5-4. Patel and Ramsperger yet again posted a brilliant doubles performance, coming up with a big 8-5 win on Court 3. Patel then made quick work of her #5 singles foe, taking the match 6-1, 6-0 before Arora followed with a 6-3, 6-0 win on Court 3. Szczuka pulled Caltech within one point of the decision with a 6-3, 6-1 victory before Ramsperger sealed the team's spot in the four-team postseason tourney with a straight-set match herself at 6-1, 6-2.

The Beavers fell to No. 1-seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the semifinal round; the Athenas went on to make the semifinals at the NCAA National Championship. It was Caltech's second SCIAC playoff appearance in three years and the team's fourth consecutive winning SCIAC season, excluding the shortened COVID-19 campaign in 2020.

Patel finished the year with a team-high 10 wins in singles play with a team-best 5-2 record versus SCIAC foes; she led the group with seven wins in doubles, also with a team-best 5-2 record in-conference. The standout racked up the second-most #5 singles wins in Caltech Women's Tennis history (14) and padded her own program record in #3 doubles wins (22).

For her superb season during conference play, Patel was awarded Second Team All-SCIAC honors. 

Zhang led the team in rankings this season, surging to as high as No. 18 in the West region on Apr. 24. She defeated one nationally-ranked and two regionally-ranked foes over the course of the spring. The star ends her career with 24 singles victories; her 13 singles wins at the #1 position ties for sixth all-time in program history.

The program will lose several players to graduation but bring back a host of returners alongside a number of high-level newcomers. Stay tuned for a schedule release later this summer.

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