2026 Cate Fall Junior WTN Tournament Recap

More than 60 matches were played over the weekend, across boys and girls singles and doubles. The tournament was played under much cooler, overcast conditions than the heat wave of the previous week.

On Saturday, play featured the boys early rounds, with 12 players advancing to the second day of play via their round robin wins. Additionally, the girls singles round-robin tournament was held, with Cate Spring Junior WTN winner Elly Edwards going back-to-back to win her second title of the series. Kiki Chang collected the finalist trophy in her first participation.

Sunday morning saw the start of doubles match-play on dry courts and more partly-cloudy weather. The 20 doubles participants each competed in 3 matches, with a number of close sets played throughout the events.

In boys’ doubles, the finals was played between Nico Holve/Braden Stewart and Kakeru Hirofuji/James He. The pair of Holve and Stewart claimed top honors with a 6-4 win, with Hirofuji/He finishing runner-up and Alex Danely/Massey Scott taking the third place match.

Girls’ doubles featured close first-round matches, with Kiki Chang/Kiki Danely defeating Adhya Reddy-Hoelle/Taylor Dannemiller 6-4 and Lotte and Margo Nicholas squeezing past Riya Mitera/Kaisa Taggart 7-6 (3). The Kikis would go on to sweep their remaining matches to claim the girls’ doubles title, with Reddy-Hoelle and Dannemiller taking 2nd place.

In the boys’ single-elimination tournament on Sunday afternoon, after several rounds of play, Kakeru Hirofuji booked his ticket to the finals with a 6-1 win over Alex Danely. On the other side of the draw, Braden Stewart took an upset win over Diego Morales (6-3) to make it two finals in one day.

Hirofuji and Stewart took the court at 3:30pm, 6.5hrs after they had each started the day in doubles play, but the match was not to be a long one. Despite some excellent points in the early going, Stewart began to struggle with cramping and the physical play of Hirofuji proved to strong a challenge. At 3-1 for Hirofuji, the match ended in retirement.

The win for Kakeru Hirofuji marks his second singles title in the three-part Cate Junior WTN Series for 2026, with Hirofuji also taking the inaugural edition back in January. Stewart improved on his Round of 16 finish in May during the spring edition for a 2nd place finish in the fall edition.

Here’s the link to the 2026 Cate Fall Junior WTN Tournament for a deeper look at the draws.

Also during the weekend, Brendan Gordon received some Toroline string after being recognized by his peers for excellent sportsmanship throughout the tournament.

The Sunday pizza party was joined by another fun event called the “One-Point Ram Slam.” The event pitted tournament participants against each other in a single-elimination draw where each round is won with just a single point played. In the Australian Open version of the event, 32 players competed for a $1m Aussie prize, but as we don’t have Aussie currency here, the winner was playing for the title “Ram Slam Champion” and a $50 gift card to Lucky Llama Coffee House.

Ezra Oklu, Kiki Chang, Ryder Eberz, and Oliver Tande came through their first-round matches against Roshan Deshpande, Lotte Nicholas, Tyler Spaulding, and Ryland Montgomery (respectively) for a place in the semifinals. Ezra Oklu then forced an error from aggressive baseliner Kiki Chang, while Oliver Tande similar picked up an win through consistency over Ryder Eberz.

In the final, Tande deferred the serve to Oklu, who selected the shady side and produce a powerful body-serve that handcuffed Tande (who had already withstood a booming serve from Montgomery in the quarterfinal match). With Tande’s return clipping the net and falling back, Oklu, the youngest player in the tournament emerged as the first Cate School Ram Slam Champion and winner of the Lucky Llama gift card. Tande took solace in the runner-up award, a fresh set of Toroline string.

A big thank you to the many players and parents who made the 2026 Cate Junior WTN Series a blast to host. Also, appreciation needs to be directed at Cate School for being the event facility and to SB Tennis Patrons for partnering as a tournament organizer.

Keep an eye out for the 2027 Cate Junior WTN Series in January, May, and October of next year where we hope to see you all (and your friends, and their doubles partners) on the courts for some more fun tennis competition.

Cate Moves to 11-0 with Pair of Wins

The Rams maintained their unbeaten streak with wins on Thursday (at Malibu) and Friday (versus St. Ignatius) this week, after heat cancelled a Tuesday match against Villanova and forced practices into the early morning hours. Cate is now 11-0, including 5 wins against out-of-section opponents (St. Ignatius, Monta Vista, Rancho Bernardo, San Marcos/SD, Stockdale) and 4 wins over Tri-Valley League opponents.

How it Happened:

Cate d. Malibu High 18-0

Cate made the journey down to Malibu minus its 5 seniors for what turned out to be senior day for the home team. However, the Rams wasted no opportunity for victory, showing just how strong next years team will be.

Elizabeth Jayich, Ivy Huang, and Jade Wang combined for a 54-2 game-score across 9 sets in the singles lineup. The trio have been unbeatable in league play so far this season.

In doubles, Cate juniors Elly Edwards and Chelsea Newlove held down the top line, going 2-0 without dropping a single game before JV call-up Adele Tan paired with Newlove for a 6-1 win in the third round. First year varsity pairings Kiki Chang/Margo Nicholas and Riya Mitera/Josie Goldhirsh collected three wins each to complete the sweep.

Cate d. St. Ignatius 10-8

The second of the back-to-back matches was to be a much more closely contested affair, with the teams locked at 4-4, and 6-6, before Cate finally pulled away in the final round-of-play.

St. Ignatius #1 player Emerson Howard is the first this season to defeat all three of the Cate triumvirate (Jayich, Huang, Wang) in singles play. Howard, already headed to play D3 tennis and la crosse at Chapman University next year, was pushed hard by the Cate trio, but her phenomenal athleticism and consistency was too much in the end.

Cate faired better against the St. Ignatius #2 (Eloise Cuolombe, UTR 6.3) and #3 (Daria Savchenkova, UTR 5.9) line, with both Jayich and Huang collecting wins.

The Rams #1 and #2 doubles positions carried the team to victory, collecting 6 sets via Lisa Hasebe/Kiki Chang (6-3, 6-1, 6-2) and Elly Edwards/Claire Tang (6-3, 6-1, 6-0).

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

We had two very different matches in the last two days. Malibu was a fun one, getting to bond with the underclassmen over a strong win, a run up the infamous sand hill, and the overwhelming good Chipotle/Crumbl Cookie combo dinner.

In St. Ignatius, we found our hardest challenge of the season so far; they really pushed us to the limit, especially in singles. I thought the team responded well to the challenge, with Elizabeth and Ivy securing a couple strong match-wins in singles and Lisa and Kiki continuing to dominate at #1 doubles. Elly and Claire paired up for the first time this season and were super-impressive in Chelsea’s absence, which turned out to be crucial for the win today.

We’re currently ranked #17 of 373 schools in CIFSS, which puts us near the top of Division 2, so we’re likely to meet this level of opponent regularly in playoffs this season. Tests like this are what will prepare us well to go after another CIF Championship.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate returns to action at Laguna Blanca School on Tuesday to complete the first round of TVL league play. The match will be played at 3:30pm in Hope Ranch. Cate will also be hosting a USTA tournament this weekend, with players from as far as Paso Robles journeying to Cate Mesa for the Cate Fall Junior WTN Tournament. The event is the third in a three-part series aimed at high school players and those preparing for the high school level.

Rams Over Toads, 15-3 in Ojai

Cate Girls’ Tennis continues to roll in Tri-Valley League play, taking a 15-3 victory over Thacher School in Ojai yesterday. The win moves the Rams to 9-0 on the season and 3-0 in league play.

How it Happened:

On a toasty 90+ degree day in the Ojai Valley, Cate counted on singles stand-outs Elizabeth Jayich and Ivy Huang for a pair of sweeps at line #1 and #2, dropping just 3 games between them in 6 sets. Senior Claire Tang added a 6-3 set-win against the Thacher #3 to make 7-of-9 sets for the Rams in singles.

In doubles, juniors Elly Edwards/Chelsea Newlove went 3-0 on the day (6-2, 6-0, 6-0) and seniors Gwendi Rogers/Edie Abbott matched the effort of their junior teammates (6-4, 6-0, 6-2). Cate also received two wins from #1 doubles pair Lisa Hasebe and Kiki Chang (6-2, 6-0) before they subbed out in the final round.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

We love the annual trip out to Thacher for a few reasons. For one, there’s always been a healthy bit of competition between Cate and Thacher, as two of the top boarding schools in the US, separated by just a 45 minute winding drive through the foothills. Yesterday was no different, with the girls working hard to take care of business against the rival Toads.

The second reason we love making the Thacher away match trip is a team tradition that’s been carried on for more than 20 years now; we love our dinner and dessert at Boccali’s Restaurant just a mile or so down the road. Getting to share some pizza and the famous strawberry shortcake is a tennis tradition in the Ojai Valley during the Ojai Invitational (the oldest tennis tournament in the US), and even better to share as a team. This tradition helps build connections that will hopefully lead us deep into another CIF Playoff run and beyond to an active team alumni network that still remembers those dinners fondly.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate will play Arroyo Grande from the CIF Central Section on Saturday, October 3rd at 10am on Cate Mesa.

Cate Dominates 2026 SB Tennis Invitational

The Cate Rams Girls’ Varsity Team has taken the 5th Edition of the Santa Barbara Tennis Invitational, marking the first time a local team has won the event.

Cate came through three dual matches in 24hrs with 6-0, 5-1, and 6-0 wins, playing two rounds against San Diego Section opponents (San Marcos/SD and Rancho Bernardo), before taking down Bay Area power-house, Monta Vista, in the tournament finale.

How it Happened:

Cate d. San Marcos/San Diego 6-0

Cate swept through the first round of competition against San Marcos High School, visiting from San Diego County.

The Rams took a 4-0 lead through the first round-of-play, collecting straight set wins from Lisa Hasebe and Claire Tang at #2 and #3 singles, with the two seniors dropping just 3 games total between them. At doubles #2 and #3, Cate collected a pair of 6-1, 6-4 matches from juniors Elly Edwards/Chelsea Newlove and seniors Gwendi Rogers/Edie Abbott.

In the second round-of-play, Elizabeth Jayich and Ivy Huang combined for a 6-1, 6-1 win at line #1 doubles, while junior Jade Wang was made to work considerably more for her win at line #1 singles.

Wang dropped the first set 2-6 again San Marcos’s senior #1 player Yuna Martin (UTR 5.3), but re-found her best for a 7-5 second set and a dominant 10-1 match tie-break.

Cate d. Rancho Bernardo 5-1

Cate again leapt out to the early lead, this time spurred by quick wins from Ivy Huang (6-0,6-3) and Margo Nicholas (6-3, 6-0) at #2 and #3 singles, respectively.

In doubles, senior/freshman combo Claire Tang/Kiki Chang took a 6-4, 6-1 victory at #3. The #2 doubles match was more even, with Edwards and Newlove splitting sets (6-3, 2-6) before dropping a tight 8-10 match tie-break.

The line #1 matches were all-Cate, all the time, with Elizabeth Jayich holding down the top spot with a 6-0, 6-1 victory and Jade Wang combining with Lisa Hasebe for a 6-1, 6-3 win.

Cate d. Monta Vista 6-0

Cate continued to dominate the SB Invitational, taking 3 of the opening sets in the first round-of-play. Jade Wang was the first of the courts, registering a 6-2, 6-0 win at line #3 singles.

The next three took a bit more doing, with Ivy Huang dropping the opening line #2 singles set 3-6, and doubles #2-3 pairings Elly Edwards/Chelsea Newlove and Claire Tang/Margo Nicholas battling to 6-4 first set leads. The second sets in doubles were more lopsided, with Cate taking 6-2 and 6-0 sets, respectively.

With the 3-0 lead, Ivy Huang fought back, taking the last 5 games of the second set (6-2) to draw even with senior Lisa Yoshida of Monta Vista. Huang lead from start to finish in the match tie-break, eventually closing her match and clinching the tournament for Cate with a 10-6 score.

Senior captain Lisa Hasebe and freshman Kiki Chang took the court in the final match of the day, facing the steep challenge of Monta Vista #1 doubles team Thea Krishnaswamy/Anna Zhang. Going down 0-3 early, the pair battled back to an 8-6 win, cementing the championship without a loss in the finals.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

When we talked about this tournament this week, I reminded our girls of a pattern of progress that had developed in our first few years of participation in the SB Invitational; 5th place in 2024, 3rd place in 2025, and aspirationally, a continuation of that descending pattern in 2026.

What seems nice in theory doesn’t necessarily come to pass in reality, but this Cate girls’ tennis team outperformed expectations throughout the tournament. Despite the convincing final scores, there were numerous closely contested matchups in each round.

In the match against San Marcos/SD, Jade came back from a pretty deep hole at line #1 singles, and Ivy did the same in the final match against Monta Vista. The support from the sidelines and across courts was exceptional throughout, and the team took a big step forward in confidence.

We really appreciate the willingness of these teams to come out and compete against us in our own backyard, because this type of challenge is what reveals our full potential. I think we learned this weekend that we are a championship caliber team, so this was the perfect first dress rehearsal for CIF Playoffs later this fall.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis

Cate, now 8-0, returns to action in a league match against Thacher in Ojai on Tuesday, September 29th at 3:30pm. Cate will also host Arroyo Grande next week, with the Central Section team making the drive out on Saturday, October 3rd at 10am.

Rams Shut Out Sharks with 18-0 Victory

Cate spared not a single set for visiting Malibu High School, taking all 18 sets-of-play in the Tri-Valley League match held today on Cate Mesa. Cate moves to 5-0 (2-0 in league play) and looks poised to continue the streak at this weekend’s Santa Barbara Invitational Tournament.

How it Happened:

Cate’s singles lineup featured usual #2 doubles partners Elly Edwards and Chelsea Newlove, who each collected two set wins on the day. Edwards opened the match with a tight 6-4 win over Malibu #1 Ana Mitrovic (4.6UTR) and is now 8-0 overall this season, with 4 wins in singles and 4 in doubles.

Senior Evita Ferrone and sophomore Margo Nicholas added a pair of 6-2 wins against the Malibu #2, while freshman Elizabeth Jayich and junior Jade Wang each collected 6-0 wins against Mitrovic.

In doubles, it continues to be all Cate, all the time. After the perfect 54-0 doubles game-score across 9 sets versus Villanova last week, the Rams followed up the performance with a 54-6 showing today.

Last year’s TVL Doubles Champions and CIF Round-0f-32 pairing, Ivy Huang/Lisa Hasebe, made their season debut together at line #1. The duo scored a 6-0 win before being replaced by juniors Josie Goldhirsh and Riya Mitera. Cate received 3-set sweeps from Claire Tang/Kiki Chang at #2 and Gwendi Rogers/Edie Abbott at #3 doubles.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I really enjoyed seeing the girls take on different roles in the lineup today. I think that, although there’s a lot to be said for specialization, giving some doubles players the room to roam the court and think out a singles match provides some insights that they can then take back into their usual roles.

Elly stepped up her game big-time today to take what is probably her best singles win to-date and Chelsea also showed us her versatility when not confined to the tighter spaces and targets of the doubles game.

We also got to see our new sophomore Margot compete for the first time today, after finally waiting out the transfer sit-out period, and she did not disappoint!

We’re firing on all cylinders already as we head into one of our big season objectives this weekend.

What’s Next For Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate opens SB Invitational play on Friday afternoon at 3pm, playing at home against San Marcos High School from San Diego County. The winner will play the winner of San Marcos High School from Santa Barbara and Rancho Bernardo High School from San Diego County at 9am on Saturday morning in the Semifinal Round. The Finals will be held at Noon on Saturday.

Doubles Domination Spurs 17-1 Cate Victory

Cate girls’ tennis nearly pulled off the complete sweep today, taking a 17-1 victory over visiting Villanova Prep. The Rams move to 4-0 on the season with the win in their league-season opener.

How it Happened:

Cate’s doubles prowess was on full display today, recording a perfect 6-0 sweep of all 9 sets on that side of the scoresheet. Senior Captain Gwendi Rogers and her junior partner Josie Goldhirsh paired for 3 wins, with the team of Chelsea Newlove/Kiki Chang matching the effort with another 3 sets.

Senior doubles anchor Lisa Hasebe partnered with fellow senior Claire Tang in the first round, before handing the baton to another senior, Edie Abbott, for the final two rounds.

In singles, freshman Elizabeth Jayich continues her unbeaten streak, taking a 6-0 win over defending TVL Singles Champion Chloe Kalison. Junior Jade Wang followed suit in the second round, recording a 6-1 victory over the Villanova senior. Kalison registered a 6-1 win over Cate substitute Riya Mitera in the third round.

Elsewhere in singles, Ivy Huang and Elly Edwards went 2-0 on the day and Evita Ferrone notched a 6-0 win over the Villanova #3 singles player in the final round, while coming in off the bench.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

It’s not often you see an entire doubles card with no games surrendered, so I’m obviously very proud of the way our doubles unit took care of business. Ivy also had a really nice comeback after suffering an injury in her second match; she was very gutsy fighting back from 2-5 down to take the final 5 games of that set. Both the hunger to take every game and the grittiness to battle back that I saw from the team today will serve us well come playoff-time!

What’s Next for Cate Tennis?

Cate will face TVL newcomer, Malibu High School, on Tuesday next at Cate. Following the Malibu match, The Rams turn their attention toward the SB Invitational on Friday and Saturday of next week.

Cate Remains Undefeated with 15-3 Win over San Marcos

Cate School girls’ tennis heads into the annual “outings week” break with a convincing 15-3 victory over visiting San Marcos High School. The girls will now trade their racquets in for backpacking gear and move away from the courts and into the Sierra, taking with them a 3-0 season record and three weeks of solid training.

How it Happened:

Cate singles faced a strong challenge today from 5.6 UTR-rated junior Tate Jaeger of SM, who came out firing against freshman Elizabeth Jayich. The two traded the first four games of the match, 3 of them going to the “deuce + 1,” before Jayich broke away to claim a 6-3 victory.

In the second round, junior Jade Wang of Cate had a similarly close battle, finding herself locked in a close one until 3-4. At that point, there was a clear swing in momentum as Wang changed tactics, mixing aggressive baseline striking with a few well-timed drop shots; the final 3 games went quickly in Cate’s favor.

With Jayich and Wang eventually sweeping their three sets each, senior Claire Tang (who filled in for usual singles star Ivy Huang) collected a set win and fought gamely to two competitive losses against the San Marcos #1 and #2 singles players.

In doubles play, senior/freshman combo Lisa Hasebe/Kiki Wang remain undefeated as a pair, taking their three sets 6-0, 6-1, 6-0. Seniors Gwendi Rogers and Evita Ferrone put forth a similar line, going 3-0 on the day as well (6-1, 6-0, 6-2). Edie Abbott and Jose Goldhirsh filled out the results with 2 solid wins and a tight 4-6 loss to the SM #1 team.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I want to highlight all three of our singles players today. Tate Jaeger came out firing today and so I was impressed by the way both Elizabeth and Jade kept their composure throughout those very competitive line one matches. Just as encouraging for me as a coach, Claire really rose to the occasion playing Jaeger in the third round; she was her usual consistent self, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her move so well. Although she didn’t get the win, I loved the effort and see the progress in her game.

I’m also happy with the way we managed some sickness that’s been moving through Cate over the last week. We had a key singles player and a key doubles team missing from the lineup, but didn’t miss a beat. When players who don’t normally start heard them names called, they we’re ready to roll. As we’ve seen many times in the past, having the depth to put together a winning lineup when players are missing is key to making a deep playoff run in November; that’s our intention and so far we’ve shown we have what it takes.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Yosemite, Kern, maybe a dip in an alpine lake or a bear sighting during the outings week break. Then, it’s back to business with the Tri-Valley League season opener against Villanova Prep on September 17th.

Cate defeats Channel League Champions 17-1 in All-Santa Barbara Match-Up

Cate moves to 2-0 on the season with a dominant performance over visiting Dos Pueblos High School. With the win over the defending Channel League champion Chargers, Cate takes poll position for top team in Santa Barbara County.

How It Happened:

Cate swept doubles play, with senior Lisa Hasebe partnering with freshman Kiki Chang for a 6-0, 6-1, 6-0 sweep. Seniors Edie Abbott and Gwendi Rogers also swept, including a come-from-behind win in the second round, where they trailed 2-5 against the Charger #2 squad. Chelsea Newlove paired with Elly Edwards for 2 wins before a third victory partnered with Claire Tang.

In singles, Ivy Huang again led Cate with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 line on the day, while freshman Elizabeth Jayich made her season debut with a pair of 6-0 wins against the Chargers top 2 players. Junior Jade Wang had a particularly strong day, playing the #3 line for Cate. She earned three wins while dropping just 2 games on the day.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

It’s great to get a first look at what the full roster can do. Our singles lineup is the strongest it has ever been, which has already led to some great practices for our singles players leading into this match. We’ve also got a very experienced mix of players across our doubles lineup, including a few seniors who have been around since our CIF title run in 2023.

Dos Pueblos has been our toughest regular season opponent in each of the last 3 seasons, so getting this convincing result is a good early-season indication of the level we’re playing at right now. That said, I think we’ve got a lot of room to grow in the coming months; very exciting!

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate will host a 3:30pm match against San Marcos High School on Thursday before heading off to various hiking/backpacking adventures for outings week.

Cate Girls Open Season with Big WIN!

Cate Girls’ Tennis has come out the gates hot again this season, with a 12-6 win over visiting Stockdale High School from Bakersfield. Stockdale is the defending CIF Central Section D1 championship team and held a 20-match win-streak dating back to September 2025 before the match.

How it happened:

Cate jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first round, taking 2 convincing wins in singles and battling through 3 very close sets to pick up the doubles sweep.

Cate was led in singles by junior Ivy Huang, who turned in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 performance, including a win over 6.3 UTR-rated #1 singles player Jordan Li. Jade Wang, also a junior, went 2-1 on the day, including a convincing 6-1 victory over 5.3 UTR-rated Akshaya Behara.

In doubles, senior Lisa Hasebe went 3-0, partnering with Elly Edwards in rounds 1 and 2, before pairing with freshman Kiki Chang in the final round. Seniors Claire Tang and Edie Edwards went 2-0 on the day, including a 7-4 tie-break set over the Stockdale #2 teams. The pair fought off 3 set points at 5-6 down to force the deciding breaker and never trailed again. Junior/senior combo Chelsea Newlove and Gwendi Rogers finished 2-1.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

After missing our rendezvous with West Ranch last week due to heat restrictions, we are so happy to have been able to get this match in against Stockdale. All week, we were pushing up against the CIF limits with this heat wave, and we even had to cancel practice yesterday, but thankfully the clouds came out.

I’m so proud of the way my girls rose to the challenge of playing a team of this caliber so early in our season. We haven’t had much time to sort out our lineup yet, but the girls came ready for battle today and we definitely put Stockdale on the back foot earlier. I thought my team showed a lot of poise and confidence throughout the day to not only come out swinging, but maintain a lead against a Stockdale team that definitely improved throughout.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate returns to action next week with a pair of Santa Barbara matchups that will provide an early indicator of who the top team in SB County will be this year. Cate will be visited by Dos Pueblos on Tuesday, September 1st, followed by another home match against San Marcos on Thursday, September 3rd. Cate has not lost to either team in the last 3 seasons.

Cate Spring Junior WTN Recap

More than 40 high school (and future high school) players competed in the Cate Spring Junior WTN Tournament over the weekend, with some local names featuring in each of the three finals matches.

In Girls’ Singles, Cate School sophomore Elly Edwards took the title over finalist Adhya Reddy-Hoelle with an emphatic 6-0 victory. The win in the single-elimination playoff avenged her tie-break loss to Reddy-Hoelle in the Group Stage of the girls draw, held earlier in the day. 

Photos of Elly Edwards taken by Ben Elkin

Cate has now claimed the girls’ singles title in both editions of the 2026 series, with Edwards’ fellow sophomore Cate teammate, Jade Wang, taking the winter title.

Boys’ Doubles was nearly an all-Cate affair in the winter event, with 3-of-4 players in the final able to walk across campus from their dorm rooms for the tournament. This time around, it was 2 teams from San Marcos High School and 2 from Viewpoint in Calabasas who battled for the final 4 positions in the doubles compass draw.

In the end, it was Levi Reece and Jacob Cantrell from SMHS who took the title over Viewpoint’s Vance Resnick and Gavin Holmes. The San Marcos team battled back from 0-3 and 2-5 down in a determined fashion to claim the title, winning the final 5 games for an exciting 7-5 finish. 

Meanwhile, on the next court over, their high school teammates Paolo Borgioli and Eliot Gray nabbed third place from Jonah Windisch and Casey Bernstein of Viewpoint. Cate’s top doubles performance came from sophomore/freshman duo Alex Danely/Nolan Hsing, who battled back from a first round loss to take 5th place.

Singles play for the 32-player boys’ draw began on Saturday with players competing in 8 grouping of 4 players, round robin-style. The group stage yielded 16 players for the Sunday afternoon single-elimination playoff. 

Amongst those who advanced were 3 middle school entrants who all kept the high school boys on their toes throughout the tournament. In the Round-of-16, Ryder Eberz battled to 4-6 against the top seed, Harry Pedersen went 5-7 against the #10 seed, and Tyler Spaulding also managed to play some great points against the eventual champion.

Elsewhere in the draw, Oliver Tande took a pair of wins and defeated the #3-seeded Gavin Holmes en-route to a semifinal showing. The Laguna Blanca junior went one better than his performance in the winter edition, where he also defeated a #3-seeded player to reach the quarterfinal round, before falling to eventual champion Kakeru Hirofuji (Cate).

The other semifinalist was Jonah Windisch, who matched his semifinals performance in morning doubles competition. Windisch took a 6-4 victory over Cate junior James He and another 6-4 win over Nicholas Christman, a junior at Atascadero High School.

Photos of Nicholas Christman and Lucas Forry taken by Griffin Gruber

With top-seeded junior Lucas Forry of Santa Barbara High School and #2-seed Vance Resnick of Viewpoint reaching his second final of the day, the battle for the title was sure to be a thriller. 

The set featured very close competition, with neither player able to pull out a significant lead. At 4-4, Forry broke Resnick, earning a chance to serve the match out, but Resnick fought off a set point to continue the back-and-forth affair. Eventually, the two found themselves locked in a tie-breaker to decide the title. Even then, the two lefties stayed close in the early-going, trading blows both from the baseline and at net. Finally, Resnick managed to close out the match 7-4 by winning the final 3 points to take the championship and finish the weekend 7-0 in singles play.

As a tournament director, I was honored to have such an outstanding group of boys and girls tennis players competing across the weekend. The competition was fierce, exciting, and enthusiastic and we had great representation from a variety of coastal California players from Atascadero to Malibu. 

I also want to take the opportunity to again recognize our 5 Sportsmanship Award winners, who helped save the day Sunday morning when we had a wet court delay; Vance Resnick, Gavin Holmes, Jonah Windisch, Ryder Eberz, and Harry Pedersen all earned $25 Tenniswarehouse gift cards when they showed up early and volunteered to help push puddles and get the courts dry so the morning matches could get on court. 

While we had some great examples of sportsmanship during the matches, I think it’s important this time to recognize these guys for their proactiveness in helping. A core element of sportsmanship is doing the right thing or making the extra effort to be kind, even when it might not seem like anyone is watching. The mentality of being a good sport should extend beyond the match, to the school or club, where inevitably it can also then become a part of who we are outside the tennis world, too. Thanks guys!

The spring edition of the Cate WTN Tournament Series is round two of a three-part series, which will conclude with a fall edition on October 10-11. I look forward to seeing many familiar faces and hopefully some new additions to the mix in the fall.

Trevor Thorpe – Tournament Director