#25 Caltech Women’s Tennis Shines in Win Against Hope International

[Photo credit: Tucker Stikeman]

Caltech Women’s Tennis, currently ranked No. 25 in NCAA Division III, swept the Hope International University Royals 7-0 Tuesday afternoon.

The Beavers were out to a quick start as first year Carissa Gerung (Portland, Ore. / Jesuit) and senior Grace Wilson (Alpharetta, Ga. / Forsyth Central) finished their doubles set 6-0. Shortly after, the pair of first years Aoi Kunimoto (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) and Polaris Hayes (Robbinsville, N.J. / The Pennington School) followed suit with a 6-0 of their own, clinching doubles for Caltech. Meanwhile, senior duo Yoyo Benchetrit (Toronto, Ont. / St. Clements) and Payal Patel (Cumming, Ga. South Forsyth) played a back-and-forth game, eventually pulling away from their opponents and securing a 6-4 win.

In singles, the Beavers picked up right where they left off as first year Naya Kessman (Fayetteville, Ark. / Haas Hall Academy) started out hot, putting down a 6-0 in her first set and a swift 6-2 in the second.

Hayes got on the board second as she clinched her own match after a 6-2 game one and 6-0 game two, not dropping a single set across both singles and doubles on the day. Her double’s partner Kunimoto was the next to finish, scoring back to back 6-1 sets and achieving the clinch for Caltech. Not long after saw Wilson clinch her own series. Wilson maintained control over her match all throughout, putting up a pair of 6-2 scores on route to a win of her own.

Meanwhile, the other side of the fence saw senior Anika Arora (Fremont, Calif. / Mission San Jose) rally through a close first game, coming out on top 7-5. After the break, Arora found her groove and cruised through to a 6-2 game two victory. Junior Anna Szczuka (Scotch Plains, N.J. / Scotch-Plains Fanwood High School) played through a very similar situation one court over from Arora, paralleling a 7-5 game one win herself before breaking away for a 6-1 victory in game two.

The Beavers walked away on the day with a 7-0 victory over HIU. Next up on the schedule they are set to host SCIAC rival and No. 5 Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday April 5, at 10 a.m.