No. 31 Caltech defeated Lewis & Clark 7-0 on Saturday to begin its spring campaign. The Beavers did not lose a set on the way to their first sweep of the season, matching last year's total.
No. 28 Constantin Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne (Paris / Lycée Jean de La Fontaine) played true to his ranking, dominating Noah Sutin. Coming off a 15-win season, a Beaver record, Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne found himself down a break early in the match, 2-1 in the first set. He responded by winning the next 10 games on the way to a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Senior Andrew Zabelo (Florham Park, N.J. / Newark Academy) and junior Tejas Ram (Allen, Texas / Allen) made quick work of their matches. Zabelo won 6-2, 6-4, while Ram double-bageled Arnav Bishnoi 6-0, 6-0 in 44 minutes. Junior Eric He (Martinsville, N.J. / Bridgewater Raritan) also won decisively, 6-3, 6-2.
The Beavers depth was on full display, as the final two matches to finish were the five and six matchups. First-year Michael Gao (Chesterbrook, Pa. / Conestoga High School) had no trouble to begin his first match of the spring. He won the first set 6-2 and led 4-0 in the second set. Despite a comeback from Landon Cronin to make it 6-5 Gao, the freshman, was able to hang on 7-5. Another first-year, David Jin (San Jose, Calif. / Archbishop Mitty High School), was behind 5-4 in the first set. Jin proceeded was perfect the rest of the way, winning the final nine games to finish a 7-5, 6-0 win.
Caltech nabbed the doubles point in emphatic fashion, sweeping the Pioneers in 36 minutes. The Beavers team of Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne / Ram took care of business in 23 minutes, 6-3. He / Zabelo locked up the doubles point five minutes later, winning 6-4. The first-year doubles team of Gao and Jan Safrata (Prague, Czech Republic / Gymnazium Evolution) mounted an impressive comeback. Down 5-4 in the set, the youngsters exploded for three decisive game victories to take home a win.
The Beavers will travel to Ventura, Calif. to face Ventura College Feb. 21 at 1:00 p.m.
Following the Ventura matchup, Caltech's next eight matchups will be at home.
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