PASADENA, Calif. – The Caltech men's tennis team opened the 2025 season at home against the UC Santa Cruz tennis team and took care of business, defeating the Banana Slugs 4-3 in a hard-fought battle.

Highlighting the day were Andrew Zabelo (Florham Park, N.J. / Newark Academy) and Tejas Ram (Allen, Texas / Allen), combining for a win in #1 Doubles and carrying that momentum into the singles session for crucial match points.

With NCAA Division III now following the Division I and II score format, the three doubles matchups now count for a single match point instead of three, with each pairing playing a standard set to six games instead of eight. As such, while Zabelo and Ram prevailed in their doubles duel, the Slugs ended the doubles session with a 1-0 advantage, meaning the Beavers needed four singles victories to win the day.

Caltech did just that, with Ram striking first with an efficient 6-1, 6-3 victory on Court 3 to tie the overall match 1-1. Zabelo quickly followed in #2 Singles with an unblemished 6-0 first set, and holding off his rival in the second set with a 7-0 tiebreak win for a 7-6 set victory and a 2-1 Beavers lead.

With the remaining singles matches all splitting the first two sets, it was Caltech rookie Kenneth Chan (Hinsdale, Ill. / Pine Crest) who wrapped up first among them, grabbing his first collegiate win with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5) score, bringing the Beavers one point away from clinching. But the Slugs weren't done, as they picked up the singles points on Courts 5 and 6, leaving it all up to the top singles match to seal the deal.

Ultimately, it was Constantin Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne (Paris / Lycée Jean de La Fontaine) who rallied after a 5-7 first set to even his match with a 6-4 second set win, and he raced to a 6-1 win in the third set to put UC Santa Cruz away.

"Proud doesn't begin to describe how I feel about these guys right now," said Head Coach Adam Clark. "This team stepped up massively today and proved yet again that nobody can handle a challenge better than a Caltech student. This win took everyone on the team playing their role and I think we took a huge step forward today. There's plenty to learn from, but this was a fun win, and I know these guys are ready to do big things this season!"
 

The Caltech men's tennis team will go on the road out west to compete against the Ventura Pirates on Saturday, March 1st.