PASADENA, Calif. – The No. 30-ranked Southwestern University Pirates men's tennis team lost 5-4 to the No. 24-ranked Caltech Beavers, splitting their two weekend California matches against top 25-ranked teams.

Hunter Bajoit and Hemanshu Rambojun fought hard against Varun Shanker and James Wei in No. 1 doubles but lost 8-5 to the No. 8-ranked doubles team in Division III. Dean Dulthummon and Alexander Joseph were defeated 8-4 by Patryk Kozlowski and John Kim.

Alexis Dimanche and Carlos Esteban Rodero put together a strong comeback victory in No. 3 doubles against Matthew Gonzalgo and Connor Soohoo, winning 8-7 to avoid the sweep.

"Alexis and Carlos fought from 2-7 down, including a couple of match points to give us a chance going into singles," Head Coach Billy Porter said.

Steven Tibbetts got the Pirates off to a good start in singles from the No. 5 spot, defeating Kim in straight sets but Gonzalgo defeated Dulthummon in the No. 4 spot and Bajoit lost to Wei (6-4, 6-3), the No. 13-ranked player in the West Region to put Caltech up 4-2.

In the No. 1 spot, Shanker upset No. 24-ranked Dimanche (6-2, 6-4) to clinch the match for Caltech.

Vesko Lekovic and Joseph closed the match out with Pirate wins in the No. 6 and 3 spots with Lekovic defeating Miha Valencic (6-4, 6-4) and Joseph besting Kevin Yu in three sets (6-7, 6-4, 10-3).

"Steven bounced back today and got us a much-needed win at five," Porter said. "And Vesko continues to shine for us at six and played well again today to keep up in the match."

With the loss, the Pirates drop to 3-1 on the season and 1-1 against nationally-ranked teams. Southwestern will return home for an exhibition match on Thursday, Feb. 27 at Incarnate Word, then host LeTourneau and McMurry on Saturday, Feb. 29.

For more SU Pirate photos, please see Carlos Barron Photography