Cate Girls’ Tennis moves to 4-0 overall (3-0 in Tri-Valley League play) with back-to-back wins over league rivals Laguna Blanca and Foothill Tech.
Cate @ Laguna Blanca: 10-8 Win
Cate got nearly flawless performances from its formidable top two singles lines, with sweeps from Alyna Takahashi (6-0, 6-1, 6-2) and Lisa Hasebe (6-1, 6-0, 6-1). Claire Bianchi helped with the singles result by recording a 6-4 set-win over the Laguna #2 player Danica Damiani and battling mightily with 6-7 and 5-7 sets in her other two rounds.
In doubles, freshman Reyna Takahashi made her season debut, partnering with senior Sophie Alijani to win 2-of-3 sets at the #1 position. Caroline Batchelder and Elsie Chamberlain added the lone additional set with a win over Laguna’s #2 team in the first round.
Cate v. Foothill Tech: 13-5 Win
In singles play, Cate continued to get strong performances from its top singles players. Alyna Takahashi and Lisa Hasebe swept while dropping just 3 games total between them in 6 sets-of-play. Claire Bianchi added 2 sets, giving Cate 8-of-9 in singles.
In doubles, Foothill returned their two-time defending league champion doubles team and Cate was unable to break their unbeaten streak. Cate fared better at the other two doubles positions, with Reyna Takahashi/Sophie Alijani and Caroline Batchelder/Elsie Chamberlain both taking two wins. New freshman combo Gwendi Rogers and Sophie Blank added a win and battled to a 4-6 set against the Foothill Tech #2 team.
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
I was pleased to see how strong Laguna’s team is this year, particularly in singles. It’s always good to have solid opponents in league play, and they gave us a chance for our singles players to show what they can do! Alyna, Lisa, and Claire all got a lot of quality match-play in the week, with more still to come on Friday.
We’ve also started to find some good doubles combinations, although we’ve still not played a match with all players available yet. Caroline and Elsie were a bit of a revelation, playing quite well together despite never having played together before.
What’s next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?
Cate returns to action on Friday at home, facing a formidable D1 opponent in Camarillo High School.
Thorpe Tennis 