Caltech Men’s Tennis Downs Whittier; Improves to 8-2

Caltech Men’s Tennis defeated the Whittier College Poets late Saturday afternoon by a score of 6-1, improving the team’s record to 8-2 on the season.

Sophomores Tejas Ram (Allen, Texas / Allen) and Constantin Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne (Paris / Lycée Jean de La Fontaine) started the Beavers off on the right foot with the first doubles set win of the day. The duo took down their opponents by a score of 6-2.

Just a minute later, the doubles partnership of junior Andrew Zabelo (Florham Park, N.J. / Newark Academy) and sophomore Eric He (Martinsville, N.J. / Bridgewater Raritan) finished the job to secure the first point of the day for the Beavers. Zabelo and He took down their opponents 6-3, notching their fourth doubles win as partners.

Heading into singles, Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne got the Beavers’ second point of the match as he took down his opponent to set the tone. Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne won the first set 6-4 and went up 4-0 in set two before his opponent retired from the match. With the win, he improves to 6-4 in singles on the season.

Zabelo followed Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne in #2 Singles, defeating his opponent in straight sets with matching 6-1 scores. With that win, Zabelo’s singles record now sits at a team-best 7-1.

Having already won his doubles set earlier, Ram defeated his opponent in straight sets as well for his seventh singles win of the year. Ram won 6-4 in set one and 6-1 in set two and with his deciding match point, Caltech secured its eighth match win of the season.

That wouldn’t finish the action in Whittier as sophomore Marco Yang (Fremont, Calif. / Mission San Jose) continued the momentum for Caltech, winning his fifth singles match of the year by a score of 6-3 and 6-2. Yang battled back from down 2-1 in the first set as he won four of the next five games and never looked back.

Despite the match being decided already, Eric He refused to concede his matchup. The sophomore dropped his opening set on a tiebreaker, but he turned up the heat on his opponent Sam Neijeinhuizen. He trailed 3-2 halfway through set two but won the next four games for a 6-3 win, sending the match to a 10-point tiebreak. Finally, after almost two hours, He took care of business, winning 10-3 in the breaker.

The next match for Head Coach Adam Clark and his Beavers will come on Orange Out Saturday against the nationally-ranked No. 13 Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens at 2 p.m.