PASADENA, Calif. – Caltech Women's Tennis defeated nationally ranked number 33 Colby College 4-3 on Thursday morning. The Beavers bounced back from their loss last time out against nationally ranked number 17 Babson to get their fifth win of the season and improve to 5-2.
Colby jumped out to a quick start in doubles. The Mules took the first point, winning the first two doubles games and nullifying the third game which senior Anika Arora (Fremont, Calif. / Mission San Jose) and first-year Carissa Gerung (Portland, Ore. / Jesuit) won. But the Beavers took that momentum and built upon it in singles.
Gerung got the Beavers on the board for their first point of the game as she took down her opponent in straight sets 6-4 and 6-0. Gerung improved to 7-0 in singles on the season and has emerged as one of the most consistent players on this team.
The doubles partnership of Arora and Gerung went undefeated on the day as Arora was the next Beaver to strike. She took down her opponent to snag Caltech's second point of the day. Arora won her sets 6-0 and 6-2 and with the win, she improved to 4-3 in singles on the season.
Senior Payal Patel (Cumming, Ga. / South Forsyth) continued the Beavers' hot streak, winning her singles match 6-2 and 6-1. This gave Caltech a 3-1 lead in the match with just one more singles win needed to secure the match point. With her victory, Patel got her third singles victory of the season.
Senior Yoyo Benchetrit (Toronto, Ont. / St. Clements) delivered the dagger match point for Caltech as she defeated her opponent in straight sets 6-1 and 6-0. Benchetrit won her fourth singles match of the season, and with the win, the Beavers are now 5-2 on the season.
After the match, Head Coach Nyssa Peele had some praise for her Beavers who showed out with a big win.
"I'm thrilled with the competitive fight and maturity we showed today, especially with the SCIAC schedule getting started this weekend," said Peele, " Even on the courts we came up short, we fought when we fell behind and didn't give in."
"That's exactly what you hope to see as a coach. As a team, we still have plenty of room to improve, but when you have a culture where you compete and battle on every point, on every court, that's an ideal foundation to build upon."
"I'm just proud of the effort from everyone on the team and I look forward to embracing our next challenges in the SCIAC," Peele said.
The next match for Head Coach Nyssa Peele and her Beavers will come this Saturday when they head on the road to take on national No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges with action starting at noon.
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