Women's Tennis Earns First Ever National Ranking
Photo by Michael Wong
TEMPE, Ariz. (Mar. 16, 2017) – The Caltech women's team has earned its first national ranking in program history, coming in at No. 38 in the latest Oracle/ITA Division III Women's National Team Ranking. The team ranks eighth among West Region squads, a billing which also represents the highest in program history.
ITA Rankings
The Beavers picked up their first two wins over nationally ranked opponents in program history over the last two weeks since the most recent ranking, defeating No. 40 Cal Lutheran University, 7-2, and No. 38 Hardin-Simmons University, 6-3. Caltech is 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the SCIAC, with all four losses having come at the hands of nationally ranked teams, including a narrow 5-4 defeat at then-No. 35 Linfield College (the Wildcats have since moved up to No. 25) in the season opener, which was played indoors.
The addition of rookies Angelica Zhou (Temple City, Calif. / Arcadia) and Alexandra Bodrova (Russia / Kurchatovskaya School) has been an absolute boon to Caltech's lineup, with the pair a combined 13-2 in singles matches and 5-4 as a doubles team. Sophomore Kana Moriyama (Redmond, Wash. / Redmond) has been integral as well, stepping up her game after a successful rookie year and laying claim to the top singles spot after starting the season 4-0 at #2.
Head Coach Mandy Gamble's squad still have several chances to consolidate their status among the nation's top teams with three more matches scheduled against nationally ranked foes, including their next on Wednesday, Mar. 22 against No. 14 The University of the South-Sewanee (5-2).