Cate girls’ tennis has finished regular season play this week with a trio of wins, moving to a perfect 12-0 on the season. After hosting cross-town rival Carpinteria High School on Monday (16-2 win), Cate was on the road against Royal High School (16-2 win) on Tuesday and then finished TVL play at Villanova High School in Ojai (18-0 win).
How it happened:
Senior team captain, Alyna Takahashi, went 8-0 at singles #1 for Cate, pushing her season record to 14-0 in league play and 24-1 overall. Takahashi will enter next week’s TVL Individuals tournament as the top seed, after finishing runner-up in the tournament last year.
Lisa Hasebe went 7-0 at singles #2, extending a 28-set singles win-streak that traces back to the second match of the season. The freshman is 30-1 in singles and 2-1 in doubles. Hasebe will enter next week’s TVL Individuals tournament as the #2-seeded player after going a perfect 19-0 in league singles play.
Reyna Takahashi had a late start to the season due to injury, but has wasted no time having an impact in both singles and doubles. The freshman registered 5 wins in doubles and 2 in singles, going 7-0 this week, and moving her season tally to 13-1 in singles and 10-2 in doubles. The younger Takahashi sister will partner with Colette Chang as one of the top-seeded doubles team in TVL Individuals.
Colette Chang, a two-time all-league doubles player, made her season debut on Thursday after a successful recovery from injury. The junior is 3-0 on the season and will partner with Reyna Takahashi for a third attempt at the TVL Doubles league title.
Frances Davis went 8-0 in doubles play this week, partnering with Reyna Takahashi against Carpinteria, before returning to usual partner Sophie Alijani in the final two matches of the season. The Cate senior moves to 25-3 overall in doubles play this season, and a flawless 13-0 when partnered with Alijani.
Senior team captain, Sophie Alijani, went 9-0 playing with Frances Davis and her sister Pyper Davis this week. Alijani is the winningest Cate player in the doubles lineup, achieving a 29-5 overall record this season. Alijani and Davis will try to continue their 13-set win-streak next week as one of the top-seeded teams in TVL Individuals.
After a 2-7 start to the season, sophomore Pyper Davis has been on an absolute tear in recent weeks. The younger Davis went 4-0 in doubles and 2-0 in singles this week and has now won 17 consecutive matches (9-0 singles, 8-0 doubles) since that early rough patch.
Claire Bianchi, the unofficial utility player of the team, went 6-0 in singles this week, and 13-4 overall this season. The sophomore has played a mix of singles and doubles this season, partnering with 5 different teammates for a 10-6 mark in doubles.
Elsie Chamberlain entered the season as a singles specialist, but recorded a 7-1 showing in doubles in this finals week. This caps a 22-9 overall record in doubles this season, partnering mostly with senior Caroline Batchelder.
Completing her first full season as a varsity starter, senior Caroline Batchelder has undoubtedly come into her own in recent weeks, including a 7-1 mark this week with Chamberlain. Batchelder posted a 23-12 overall record at the #3 doubles position for Cate.
The freshman trio of Gwendi Rogers, Claire Tang, and Sophie Blank combined for 4 set-wins this week, adding to 6 set-wins in earlier matches this season. The trio will undoubtedly take on an increasingly important role for the team in their sophomore season, with 4 starters set to graduate at the end of the year.
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
Amongst many moments worth highlighting this week, Claire Bianchi’s battle back from down 3-5 against the Carpinteria #2 player comes to mind. That’s the sort of tenacious, never-say-die effort we need to take into the playoffs, where matches are likely to be more competitive. It was also awesome to see Colette Chang finally back in the lineup after missing the entire season until now, due to injury. She has worked so diligently to get back and now she gets the reward of finishing the regular season undefeated (3-0)!
Speaking of undefeated, I am beyond proud of this team for going undefeated all season, which is only the second time we’ve accomplished that in my 15-year tenure at Cate. The early season was fraught with injury and some illness as well, but the girls banded together to fill the gaps whenever someone went down. The collective strength of this team is unreal!
I’ve also seen so much growth in the level of tennis across both our singles and doubles lineup. There is a clear upward trend across the season in match results, but also in confidence of our abilities as a team. That will have a huge impact on our attempt to hunt down a CIF D3 title in the coming weeks.
What’s next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?
Cate will have a week off from dual-matches, with TVL Individuals taking the stage on Tuesday, October 24th. Cate will host the event, to begin at 2pm, with the finals likely to follow on Thursday, October 26th.
Thorpe Tennis 