PASADENA, Calif. – The Caltech women's tennis team sent waves through Division III this week with wins over Vassar College and Sewanee, the University of the South.

On Tuesday, the Beavers, currently ranked No. 31 in the ITA NCAA Division III national rankings, took on the No. 26 Vassar Brewers in a back-and-forth thriller. Caltech opened by winning the doubles point with a 6-3 set victory by sophomores Carissa Gerung (Portland, Ore. / Jesuit) and Polaris Hayes (Robbinsville, N.J. / The Pennington School) on Court 1, followed by sophomore Aoi Kunimoto (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) and senior Anna Szczuka (Scotch Plains, N.J. / Scotch-Plains Fanwood High School) with a 6-4 mark on Court 2.

Vassar responded in the singles session with a pair of straight-set victories to pull ahead of the Beavers, but sophomore Naya Kessman (Fayetteville, Ark. / Haas Hall Academy) evened the team match with a three-set win on Court 5. Gerung followed with a three-set win on Court 1, and Kunimoto sealed the Brewers' fate on Court 4; both she and Gerung rallied from an opening set loss to win the next two. Szczuka wrapped up the evening with a win on Court 2, unfazed by a late rally by her rival in the second set tiebreak with a commanding third set triumph.

Thursday saw the No. 27 Sewanee Tigers join the Beavers for a hot afternoon match. Once again, the Beavers prevailed in doubles, this time with sophomore Anna Piland (Eastover, N.C. / Cape Fear) battling alongside Kunimoto on Court 2 to equalize with a 6-4 set. Gerung and Hayes required a tiebreak against their opponents but only conceded two points and gave the Beavers the doubles decision.

This time, Szczuka powered through her #2 singles match with a pair of 6-3 sets for the Beavers' second match point. Kunimoto downed her #4 singles foe 6-2, 6-4, but with the Tigers taking the matches on Courts 1 and 3, the Beavers still needed one match point to win the day. Coming off a tiebreak win in her first set, it was Kessman on Court 6 who clinched the team victory for the Beavers, as the team knocked off its second higher-ranked program in as many matches.

Head coach Rachel Viollet and the Beavers will have a week off before a huge matchup against Colorado College on Mar. 19.