In the end, Grace played some really clutch tennis to earn a 10-7 victory, but she had us all nervous for a bit. We’ll chalk it up to freshman nerves though, and the bottom line is, when it came down to it, she knew how to win. I loved the intensity she showed after getting down 2-4 in the super-breaker.

In doubles action, Cate teams headlined the draw with the top two seeds. Summer Christensen and Sarah Polowczak came into the tournament 23-0 (17-0 in league) as the top seed and backed up the seeding by winning their first match without dropping a game and beating the sister-duo Summer and Sherlynn Khouvilay from Foothill Tech 6-0, 6-2 in the semifinal round. For Christensen, this is familiar territory as last season’s Tri-Valley doubles runner-up, but for Polowczak, a sophomore, this is her first appearance in the individuals tournament.

Summer and Sarah have literally been an unbeatable combination all season long. They make a great combination, with Summer’s powerful baseline game and Sarah essentially owning the net. These two are really a fun combination to watch!

The #2-seed belonged to sister’s Jackie and Carol Cai. Jackie, a junior, could have been a seeded player in the singles draw, but chose instead to partner with her freshman sister and the combination has been deadly. Carol Cai went 18-0 in doubles league play with several different partners and, with her older sister at her side, formed a doubles combination for the tournament.

The Cai sisters breezed through both matches played today, dropping just 3 games in four sets played. The pair will play their teammates and #1-seeded team Christensen and Polowczak in the league final.

While the Jackie/Carol Cai and Summer Christensen/Sarah Polowczak are likely to play their finals match at the Cate School, Grace Fuss will play Sophia Aulicino, a senior and the only singles player undefeated in league play, on Thursday at Pierpont Tennis Club in Ventura at 1pm.