Cate girls’ tennis has now ensured ownership of the Tri-Valley League title, defeating last year’s champs, Foothill Tech, and CIF D4 #4-seeded Laguna Blanca, each by a score of 14-4.
How it Happened:
Alyna Takahashi, senior team captain #1 for the last three seasons, went 5-0 between the two matches. She clinched her spot as top-seed for the TVL Individuals tournament for the second year by defeating all of her main rivals in convincing fashion. Younger sister Reyna Takahashi also had a big week, going undefeated and dropping just 10 games across the 6 sets she won.
It was also a big week for Pyper Davis, who found her best tennis to go 3-0 in singles against Foothill Tech on Tuesday, before partnering with senior Sophie Alijani to be the only sweep in doubles for Cate today against Laguna Blanca. The sophomore had a slow start to the season, but has been steadily improving and showing her readiness to grab the Davis baton, with sister Frances Davis set to graduate this year. Frances has held down the #1 doubles position for most of the season, and battled through illness to add 3 wins between the two matches this week for Cate.
Lisa Hasebe remained undefeated in singles this season, clinching her place as the #2-seed in the TVL Individuals tournament with a sweep today. The freshman had partnered with Frances Davis in a 2-and-1 showing against Foothill Tech on Tuesday, including a very tight 5-7 loss to the defending league champion doubles team of Lola Tennyson/Julia Geib.
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
This week, I think the big story is that Alyna Takahashi went from being just a good player to owning her position as the #1 player, both on our team at Cate, and in the Tri-Valley League. She battled through adversity after having been out-of-practice and starting slow against Foothill’s #1 and then shot out the other side with the best play of her high school career against Laguna today. She was serving big, dictating points, and showed her growth in composure and mental fortitude. That’s going to make all the difference for us going into CIF Playoffs and we’re lucky to have such a strong player holding down that lead position, particularly since we have two young guns lining up next to her.
Of course, I’ve got to say something about Pyper Davis. That girl is on a ROLL! What a difference a few weeks and a few adjustments make, and we’ve now got yet another asset that we can deploy in both singles and doubles.
What’s next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?
Cate, now 9-0, will face two non-league opponents (Carpinteria, Royal) in the early part of the week, followed by an away match to end TVL regular-season play against Villanova on Thursday.
Thorpe Tennis 