Cate School girls’ tennis heads into the annual “outings week” break with a convincing 15-3 victory over visiting San Marcos High School. The girls will now trade their racquets in for backpacking gear and move away from the courts and into the Sierra, taking with them a 3-0 season record and three weeks of solid training.
How it Happened:
Cate singles faced a strong challenge today from 5.6 UTR-rated junior Tate Jaeger of SM, who came out firing against freshman Elizabeth Jayich. The two traded the first four games of the match, 3 of them going to the “deuce + 1,” before Jayich broke away to claim a 6-3 victory.
In the second round, junior Jade Wang of Cate had a similarly close battle, finding herself locked in a close one until 3-4. At that point, there was a clear swing in momentum as Wang changed tactics, mixing aggressive baseline striking with a few well-timed drop shots; the final 3 games went quickly in Cate’s favor.
With Jayich and Wang eventually sweeping their three sets each, senior Claire Tang (who filled in for usual singles star Ivy Huang) collected a set win and fought gamely to two competitive losses against the San Marcos #1 and #2 singles players.
In doubles play, senior/freshman combo Lisa Hasebe/Kiki Wang remain undefeated as a pair, taking their three sets 6-0, 6-1, 6-0. Seniors Gwendi Rogers and Evita Ferrone put forth a similar line, going 3-0 on the day as well (6-1, 6-0, 6-2). Edie Abbott and Jose Goldhirsh filled out the results with 2 solid wins and a tight 4-6 loss to the SM #1 team.
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
I want to highlight all three of our singles players today. Tate Jaeger came out firing today and so I was impressed by the way both Elizabeth and Jade kept their composure throughout those very competitive line one matches. Just as encouraging for me as a coach, Claire really rose to the occasion playing Jaeger in the third round; she was her usual consistent self, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her move so well. Although she didn’t get the win, I loved the effort and see the progress in her game.
I’m also happy with the way we managed some sickness that’s been moving through Cate over the last week. We had a key singles player and a key doubles team missing from the lineup, but didn’t miss a beat. When players who don’t normally start heard them names called, they we’re ready to roll. As we’ve seen many times in the past, having the depth to put together a winning lineup when players are missing is key to making a deep playoff run in November; that’s our intention and so far we’ve shown we have what it takes.
What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?
Yosemite, Kern, maybe a dip in an alpine lake or a bear sighting during the outings week break. Then, it’s back to business with the Tri-Valley League season opener against Villanova Prep on September 17th.
Thorpe Tennis 