The nationally-ranked Caltech men's tennis team played two matches in less than 24 hours this weekend, facing Ventura College on the road Saturday and #26 University of Mary Washington at home Sunday morning.

The Ventura Pirates were undefeated in 3C2A play going into Saturday's match, with their season's only loss being a sweep by Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. The hosts opened up the day with quick wins in second and third doubles, but sophomore Constantin Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne (Paris, France / Lycée Jean de La Fontaine) and rookie Kenneth Chan (Hinsdale, Ill. / Pine Crest) prevailed in a near-flawless 7-2 tiebreak for a 7-6 set win in first doubles. By the 3C2A's nine-point dual match format, like NCAA Division III before this year, the hosts held a 2-1 lead heading into the sinngles session.

Chan unfortunately retired early in his singles match, and Cedillo came up short Court 1 as the Pirates amassed a 4-1 lead, needing just one singles victory to clinch the match. From then on, it was all Caltech, as sophomore Tejas Ram (Allen, Texas / Allen) defeated his opponent on Court 2 in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, followed by classmate Marco Yang (Fremont, Calif. / Mission San Jose) with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on Court 5.

The Beavers needed both remaining singles matches to win the day, and senior Aditya Srinivasan stepped up on Court 6 with matching 6-4 sets, leaving all eyes on sophomore Eric He (Martinsville, N.J. / Bridgewater Raritan) on Court 4. He dropped a close first set 7-5 but then caught fire with a flawless 6-0 rebuttal in the second set. As agreed upon by the coaches before the match, the final singles duel would be decided not with a full set to six games, but a 10-point tiebreak. He fought off his rival by a 10-5 score to give Caltech an overall 5-4 win and the team's second consecutive dual match victory in a row.

On Sunday morning, the Beavers faced a formidable opponent in the Mary Washington Eagles, but Caltech played with indomitable spirit in the face of fatigue and adversity. Cedillo and Ram paired up for a 6-3 doubles win on Court 2, and Yang came away with a close Singles win on Court 5, first trading 6-2 sets before winning the tiebreak 10-8.

With the Eagles having claimed the doubles point and #4 Singles by retirement, they came within one match point of the decision with a win on Court 6. The three remaining singles matches all came down to 10-point tiebreaks after splitting sets; despite the 6-1 overall match score, the Beavers were truly just a few points away from coming all the way back for a win.

Head Coach Adam Clark and the Beavers will enjoy about a week off before their next scheduled match on Monday, March 10 at home against Wabash College.