Photo by Renee Ye

Los Angeles, CA – The Occidental Men's Tennis Team lost a close 6-3 decision on Saturday to Cal Tech on Senior Day at the McKinnon Family Tennis Courts. The Tigers and Beavers squared off in the final match of the regular season with a berth in the SCIAC Post-Season Tournament at stake.

In doubles play, Cal Tech jumped on the board early with an 8-2 win at number two doubles to take a 1-0 lead. On courts one and three, both matches went to deciding tiebreakers. Cal Tech ultimately prevailed in both matches winning number one doubles 8-7(7) and number three doubles 8-7(4) to secure a 3-0 lead heading into singles play.

Singles matches were close throughout, but the Beavers were able to secure wins at number three, four, and six singles to clinch the match. Tiger senior Matthew O'Connor pushed his singles record to 13-1 on the season with a 6-2,6-2 win at number one singles. First-year Ronald Chen pulled out a tight two set win 7-6(1), 6-4 at number two singles and senior Sam Coan finished off his college career with a come from behind 5-7,6-1,6-3 win at number five singles.

Prior to the match, the Tigers celebrated seniors Coan, Zach Haas, Seth Lipe, and O'Connor who all contributed to one of the most successful Oxy tennis seasons this century. The Tigers finished the year with a 13-6 record and finished 5^th place in SCIAC. They are currently ranked 31^st in the nation and reached a season high of 27^th in the country on March 27^th. 

Calteck 6

Occidental 3

4/22/23

Doubles

1. K. McCandless/D. Wen (CIT) def. Matthew O'Connor/Seth Lipe (Oxy) 8-7 [9-7]

2. R. Gundakaram/N. Zou (CIT) def. Ronald Chen/Ace Andres (Oxy) 8-3

3. A. Staicu/I. Kannan (CIT) def. Isaac Herrenkohl/Quentin Kemna (Oxy) 8-7 [7-4]

Singles

1. Matthew O'Connor (Oxy) def.K. McCandless (CIT) 6-2, 6-2

2. Ronald Chen (Oxy) def. I. Kannan (CIT) 7-1[7-1], 6-4

3. D. Wen (CIT) def. Ace Andres (Oxy) 6-3,7-5

4. V. Li (CIT) def. Michael Abagyan (Oxy) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 

5.  Sam Coan  (Oxy) def. R. Gundakaram (CIT) 5-7, 6-1, 6-3

6. A. Staic (CIT) def. Quentin Kemna (Oxy) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3