Men’s Tennis Sweeps No. 33 Grinnell

Caltech Men’s Tennis welcomed the Grinnell College Pioneers for a Friday afternoon match, securing the win 7-0.

The Beavers opened up doubles play on a strong note. Tejas Ram (Allen, Texas / Allen) and Constantine Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne (Paris / Lycée Jean de La Fontaine) continued their undefeated duo partnership getting the first win for Caltech on doubles in court three, taking down their opponents by a score of 6-4.

The Pioneers won on court two meaning that it was up to Andrew Zabelo (Florham Park, N.J. / Newark Academy) and Eric He (Martinsville, N.J. / Bridgewater Raritan) to secure the first point of the day for the Beavers. Zabelo and He took down their opponents 7-5, giving Caltech the doubles point heading into singles action.

Ram continued his dominance in the singles matches, taking down Karch Knoll in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-2. Following his win on Friday, Ram improved his singles record to 5-2.

Following shortly behind was He, who won his singles match in straight sets 6-0 and 6-2. With his victory, He is now 5-2 in his singles matches on the season.

Up 3-0 in the match, and needing one more singles victory for the overall win on the day, it was Zabelo who secured the game-winning point. Zabelo took down his opponent Lucas Willett 6-4 and 6-3 for his fifth singles win of the season.

About 30 seconds later, Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne defeated his opponent, Wilder Cooke, 6-4 and 6-1. Cedillo-Vayson de Pradenne won his fourth straight singles match with that win and improved his singles record to 5-2.

On court five, Kenneth Chan (Hinsdale, Ill. / Pine Crest) continued the Beaver dominance but in a closer game. Chan won his first set 6-4 before dropping the second set 6-3. In set thee, Chan dialed back in, securing his fourth singles win of the season by a score of 6-3.

In court six, Bharathan Sundar (Southborough, Mass. / Algonquin Regional) faced off against Sam Rudenberg of Grinnell in what was a very close game. Rudenberg won the first set 7-6 with a 7-5 tiebreaker score, but Sundar would bounce back. He took the second set 7-5, setting up a tiebreaker set three with a chance to sweep all seven points for Caltech. Sundar did just that, winning the third set 12-10 and giving Caltech their first sweep of the season and their first since April 13, 2024, against Occidental.

The next match for Head Coach Adam Clark and his Beavers will be next Thursday, March 27 where they will host the George Fox Bruins with action kicking off at 2 p.m.