Cate seniors made the most of their final home game today with a 16-2 victory over St. Bonaventure. The victory was punctuated by two wins over previously undefeated TVL player Helena Insua.

Grace Fuss opened proceedings with a heady display of tactics, mixing slice forehands with devastating down-the-line backhand winners for a 6-3 result. Carol Cai then followed suit with a serving display that saw her take Insua to 6-5 with just one break each, before Cai broke again to take the set 7-5. Insua rallied to beat the third Cate senior, Mia Foster, who went 2-1 on the day.

Thanks to the dual victories, Cate’s pair of senior captains leap-frogged Insua for the top-two singles records in Tri-Valley league play. Fuss is currently 11-1 in league singles play, while Cai is 13-1 in league (9-1 in singles play), while Insua falls to 12-2. Instead of going after the Tri-Valley League Singles Title next week, Fuss and Cai will return to the doubles draw as defending champions, in a bid to make a deep run into CIF Individuals in November.

Junior Madeline Vanica subbed for Fuss after the first round, going 1-1 on the day, while freshman Ellie Tunnell took Cai’s place in the final round, with a 6-0 victory against St. Bonaventure’s #3 player.

In doubles, Cate completed the full nine-set sweep. Junior/sophomore combo Fritze Mayer and Ashi Kamra won their sets 6-1, 6-0, 6-0 as they begin their push towards Tri-Valley League Individuals. The other Cate pairings of Julianna Forry/Maesa Vongkusolkit and Yuki Kobayashi/Emily May also went 3-0 on the day.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I was so happy for my seniors today as they competed in their last home match. Mia had a great singles debut, and Grace and Carol got back on terms after losing to Helena in our away match against Bonny earlier this season. 

It’s incredible to think that across these four seasons, these girls have helped, and in many cases led Cate to a 44-3 record in regular season play. They’ve only lost to San Marcos High and to a couple of stacked D1 teams in the playoffs. What they’ve accomplished in their time at Cate is nothing short of spectacular.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

The win mathematically clinches Cate’s 5th consecutive TVL team title, with tomorrow’s match against Foothill Tech the final barrier to a 5th consecutive season without losing a single league match. The match will be played at Ventura College at 3:15pm.