Cate Makes Elite 8 with Win over Newport Harbor

The Rams took the lead early and never looked back in a 13-5 victory over Newport Harbor. The CIF D2 Round-of-16 match, played in Newport Beach, brings Cate to 16-0 overall on the season, while Newport Beach ends their run with a 14-6 record.

How it Happened:

Cate came out of the gates at a full gallop, running the lead up to 5-0 before junior Jade Wang closed out the first round with a 6-4 win over Newport #1 and 5.9 UTR-rated Coco Hine.

The momentum was clear and it carried into the second round, with Newport Harbor unable to contest any close sets in doubles. Hines rallied from a first round defeat to beat Cate #3 Claire Tang, but Wang and #2 Cate player Elizabeth Jayich collected the other two singles sets to make it 11-1 after two rounds.

The Cate doubles teams of Lisa Hasebe/Kiki Chang and Elly Edwards/Chelsea Newlove stayed in to complete their 3-set sweeps on the day, but the third round otherwise featured a near full line-change for the Rams. Gwendi Rogers and Josie Goldhirsh subbed in for line 2 doubles and Evita Ferrone, Margo Nicholas, and Riya Mitera replaced the singles lineup.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

While I wasn’t able to travel with the girls to Newport today, we had great leadership from our captains Lisa Hasebe and Gwendi Rogers and exceptional coaching from assistant coach Mark Polowczak to keep us on track (and giving me regular updates)!

All year, we’ve been noted for the depth of our program, with strength at every position in the lineup, but we’ve also got another kind of depth. It’s the kind of depth that comes from players having competed for and won a CIF championship, as well as knowing the heartbreak of a close CIF Semifinal loss. It’s the kind of depth comes from active senior leadership and younger players that put their hand up for a challenge and a chance to be great.

We have all of that going for us, and yet still we know each match this deep in this D2 draw will present new difficulties to overcome. We welcome the opportunity to compete and are already excited for the next one.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

The Rams return to action on Monday at 1:30pm, when they will host Agoura High School at home on the Cate Mesa. Agoura comes through to the quarterfinal round after turning in a 10-8 upset win over #2-seeded Tesoro High School (ranked #10 in CIFSS overall).

Cate Girls’ Tennis Opens D2 Playoff Account with 16-2 Win

The #18-ranked Cate Rams got off to an impressive start against #31-ranked Beckman High School from Irvine, claiming a 16-2 victory in the CIFSS Division 2 playoffs. The win moves Cate to 15-0 on the season.

How it Happened:

Cate came out firing in singles, with junior Jade Wang defeating Beckman #1 and 3-star recruit Clara Hoss 6-0. Freshman Elizabeth Jayich added more fuel to the fire with a 6-1 first round win. Beckman responded at the #3 singles position with a 6-1 win over Cate senior Claire Tang.

In doubles, the matches were much more even, with leads trading hands on all three courts in the early-going. However, Cate was the stronger finisher, claiming all three sets (6-4, 6-3, 6-4).

With the first round going 5-1 in favor of the Rams, the momentum of the match became obvious, and Beckman struggled to get anything going in subsequent rounds.

Wang and Jayich rolled through their second sets, while Tang rallied from 1-4 down to take a 7-6 (5) win over Beckman #2 Violet Luu, a 4.7 UTR player, for perhaps her best high school win yet.

Cate doubles continued to roll, with senior/freshman combo Lisa Hasebe/Kiki Chang remaining undefeated together on the season (20-0). Ivy Huang paired with Edie Abbott at line #2 for a sweep, and the TVL all-league first team pair of juniors Elly Edwards/Chelsea Newlove rounded out the lineup with another sweep.

In the final round-of-play, sophomore Margo Nicholas lost a competitive 2-6 set against Hoss, while senior Evita Ferrone subbed in for a 6-3 singles set win to complete the 16-2 result for Cate.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I asked our girls to step up the intensity level today and they responded in the best possible way. From start to finish, they were composed, driven, and focused on our team objective. I’m particularly proud of the way Jade Wang took the reins and volunteered herself to play line #1 singles today; she handled the pressure and responsibility like the seasoned high school player she has become.

That goes for all of our girls, actually. Claire recovered from her first round loss and picked up her best singles win in 4 years. Lisa continues to anchor the doubles lineup the way she has for each of the last 4 years. Elizabeth, in her first year on the team, won the TVL singles title and dropped just 3 games today in giving us 3 singles set-wins.

This team has a few players left from the CIF D3 Championship team of 2023, but what we’ve built together this year is looking even more formidable. To come out of the gates firing the way we did today bodes well for our chances in these playoffs; we’re ready and we’re hungry for more!

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate will play at Newport Harbor High School in the Round-of-16. Newport Harbor, ranked #34 of 373 schools in CIFSS, took a narrow 10-8 victory over Beckman High School early in the season, leaving Cate the clear favorite in the match-up.

Cate Completes Near Sweep of TVL Individuals Tournament

Cate Girls’ tennis had its most successful individuals campaign of the last 20 years this week, with the Rams claiming the top 2 spots in the singles event and 1st and 3rd in doubles. All 6 Cate players earned TVL All-League First-Team Honors.

How it Happened:

In singles, freshman phenom Elizabeth Jayich won two matches and advanced to the finals, dropping just a singles game on Day 1 of the tournament. Jade Wang also turned in a convincing pair of wins, including a 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals over Laguna Blanca #1 Ella Osley. Osley defeated Wang a year ago in the semifinal round in a close match, but had no answer to the relentless and focused efforts of the Cate junior.

With Jayich and Wang both representing Cate in the championship match, it was an all-Cate affair and the action did not disappoint. Wang came out swing, putting her younger teammate on the back foot in the early games. Jayich turned the tide at 2-3 down, battling through some close games to eventually take the first set 6-4.

In the second set, the two were neck-and-neck until 3-4, when Wang again raised her level to win a pair of games and put herself in a position to serve for the set at 5-4. Jayich responded a second time, locking in on key points and holding her nerve to win the final three games for a 7-5 second set and her first league title.

Jayich follows in the footsteps of her teammates Ivy Huang and Lisa Hasebe, who also won the TVL singles title as freshmen (2024 and 2023, respectively).

In doubles, a late scratch of Ivy Huang (who was last year’s doubles champion) meant it would be freshman Kiki Chang getting her moment in the limelight. The Cate freshman paired with Lisa Hasebe, who was already the 2-time defending league doubles champion, and the duo were unstoppable. Across two matches, they dropped just a single game and booked their ticket to the final.

It looked for a moment that Cate might be playing an intersquad match of sorts for both league titles, with juniors Elly Edwards and Chelsea Newlove coming in undefeated and garnering the #2 seed. The pair took care of business in the quarterfinal round with an 8-3 pro-set win, but faced a stiff challenge in the semifinal round. Villanova moved its top 2 singles players into doubles for the tournament, including last years’ TVL singles champion Chloe Kalison and the senior pair proved too strong a challenge.

Villanova took the semifinals match over the Cate #2s by a final score of 6-3, 6-4, although the match had a number of momentum shifts that kept viewers on edge until the very end. The team of Edwards/Newlove then secured 3rd place with a 7-6, 6-0 win over the top Thacher team, leaving just the doubles final to be decided.

Hasebe and Chang against Kalison and Poon was a see-saw battle throughout, with the Cate team taking the first set 6-4, before the Villanova pair rallied to a 6-2 second set. In the final round, Cate trailed most of the way and it was beginning to look like Hasebe might suffer her first defeat in 4 years of TVL Individuals play (singles champion 2023, doubles champion 2024/2025).

With her back against the wall, Hasebe dug deep, chasing down balls on both sides of the baseline and even charging forward for an approach shot/swinging backhand volley combo that had the Villanova pair at a loss for options. The surge of the senior seemed to motivate her freshman partner, with Chang regaining her confidence at net to help the Cate pair reach 5-4 in the final set.

At this stage, Chang was serving and the Villanova strategy was clear: don’t let Hasebe have a play on the ball. Chang served big, even on second serve, but Kalison and Poon answered with powerful returns, forcing Chang to rally cross-court with the two seniors from the baseline.

Chang was equal to the challenge, eventually overcoming them both with her aggressive ball-striking, and on the one occasion they didn’t manage to hit cross-court, Hasebe was waiting to pounce at net, stinging the ball with a crisp forehand volley winner through the middle. Chang served at 40-15 for the title, and after a few balls exchanged cross-court, a Villanova ball sailed just long, clinching the victory for the Cate duo (6-4, 2-6, 6-4).

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

Our girls executed at a high level throughout this tournament and I could not be more proud with the way they took care of business. We had a dominant season as a team, but it can be a totally different challenge in the individuals tournament, as singles players sometimes pair up into the doubles draws and nerves and illness can take their toll. Instead, everyone rose to the occasion.

I’m especially proud of how our freshman Kiki stepped into Ivy’s shoes and with the way Lisa took over in the key moments. She really showed us again why she’s a captain and the only player in league history to never lose an individuals match across 4 seasons.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

The Rams will learn their playoff fate on Saturday, when CIFSS Playoff draws are published. The team playoffs are scheduled to start next week on Wednesday, when Cate is likely to have a home match to start another playoff push. Jayich, Wang, Hasebe, and Chang will then compete individually on Monday, November 23rd in the CIFSS Regional event, held at Cate/Carp High.

Cate Girls’ Tennis Goes 17-1 Against Thacher in Parents’ Week Matchup

The CIF Southern Section #23-ranked Cate girls’ tennis team defeated visiting Thacher School 17-1 in the battle of the boarding schools, taking one step closer to a 4th consecutive unbeaten Tri-Valley League season. Cate has now won every match against Thacher since 2014, despite Thacher claiming 2 CIF Division Titles during that same period.

How it Happened:

Cate was led by the usual suspects in singles, with Elizabeth Jayich, Ivy Huang, and Jade Wang all remaining undefeated in both TVL and CIFSS play this season. Senior Evita Ferrone and sophomore Margo Nicholas subbed in for Jayich and Wang in the final round, securing 6-0, 6-2 victories of their own against the top-2 Thacher singles lines.

In doubles, senior/freshman combo Lisa Hasebe and Kiki Chang also remained unbeaten on the season together, with a 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 showing at line #1. Elly Edwards returned to the doubles lineup for the Rams, taking set wins with Chelsea Newlove and Riya Mitera, before she gave way to senior Claire Tang (partnering with Mitera) in the third round for a 6-0 set-win. Seniors Edie Abbott and Gwendi Rogers went 2-1 on the day.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

This win puts us at 13-0 entering our final week of the regular season, but more important is what we’ve been able to take from each victory. Our doubles players especially are growing in confidence and looking for those opportunities to be aggressive at net.

I’m also pleased with the way the whole team is serving at this point in the season; it’s rare to see a double fault from our team, and when you do see it, it’s usually preceded or proceeded by an ace or unreturnable serve.

We’re not taking any opportunities to compete and improve for granted and that’s an indicator of our team’s intention to make a deep playoff run this season, regardless of the CIF Division into which we get placed.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate has a fun practice with family planned for tomorrow before returning to action next Thursday at home for a senior day and regular season finale match against TVL #2-ranked Laguna Blanca School.

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.