trevorthorpetravels

Laguna Drops 9-9 Tie in Pre-Season Play v. D3 Malibu High Team

This was our first home game on the brand-new Laguna Blanca High School tennis facility. In fact, we hadn’t even practiced on it yet, so you can’t even really say we had home-court advantage today.

After losing to Malibu 15-3 last year (one of only two teams that beat us last season), we came agonizingly close to the win today, falling 9-9 with a game score of 69-74. I was, however, very impressed with the way we came out and competed. Still short-handed a few key starters and after losing to San Marcos High 14-4 on Thursday, we rose to the occasion and put on a good show for those in attendance. Continue reading “Laguna Drops 9-9 Tie in Pre-Season Play v. D3 Malibu High Team”

Leslie Allen Santa Barbara Open Tournament Recap: Coach Thorpe Loses Three-Setter in the Finals

Over the weekend I had the rare opportunity to play a USTA men’s open tournament for only the second time in the last five years. I got a good draw and built on each win, stepping up my game as the opponents got more challenging, and by the end of the weekend I had won three matches and booked a ticket to the finals. Here’s the recap, including a play-by-play of the finals match, with photos courtesy of Les Morales Photography: Continue reading “Leslie Allen Santa Barbara Open Tournament Recap: Coach Thorpe Loses Three-Setter in the Finals”

Laguna Blanca Drops First Match of Season 4-14 v. San Marcos High

We knew going in that it would be tough to compete against a public school of 1,900 students with Tristan and Jack out with injuries, Kylan ineligible because of transfer rules, and Atty having to leave early to help continue the impressive Laguna run in CIF D6 Basketball Playoffs. Instead of focusing on what we didn’t have yesterday, I’ll focus on some things I saw that looked promising. Continue reading “Laguna Blanca Drops First Match of Season 4-14 v. San Marcos High”

University of Redlands Alumni Match 2014

Last weekend I had the opportunity to make the annual trip back to Redlands for our alumni match. It was great to catch up with old teammates and friends, and we had a great turnout as usual. Continue reading “University of Redlands Alumni Match 2014”

Julia and McKenna Outlast the Ball in Epic 209-Shot Rally

Thorpe Tennis Video Series: Baseline Groundstrokes with Tristan Prinz

I have been working with Tristan Prinz for almost three years now and he’s getting to a really nice level at this point. He’s been on a roll in practice of late, and looks ready to make a big jump this year in high school play.

Here is some baseline rallying we’ve been doing to get him in rhythm and improve his court fitness. This video is also a great way to compare righty and lefty strokes, as I will be in the foreground a bit in the beginning before Tristan moves to that position.

Thorpe Tennis: 2013 Year-in-Review

This last year was perhaps the most rewarding, and certainly the most successful year so far for Thorpe Tennis. I feel fortunate to continue working with players and teams across the Santa Barbara area and particularly to impact the lives of our young students.

A few highlights from the year at Thorpe Tennis: Continue reading “Thorpe Tennis: 2013 Year-in-Review”

Cate Drops Quarterfinal Match to Dominant Redlands High Team

On Monday, our season ended with a 3-15 loss to Redlands High. Since last season’s match with Redlands, they managed to pick up one of the top freshmen players in California, last year’s #1 got bumped down to #2, and their #3 player returned after a season off. Basically, they were ridiculously strong in singles, and doubles was solid, too.

All that is to say that I couldn’t be more proud of my Cate girls and the way they battled out there after the long drive. Sometimes the fact that our team gets over losing so quickly confuses me, but after this match it came in handy. Everybody gave their best and sometimes that’s all there is to it. There’s no shame in losing to a team that’s just plain better as long as heads stay held high. Continue reading “Cate Drops Quarterfinal Match to Dominant Redlands High Team”

Cate Beats Windward 11-7, Advances to CIF Quarterfinals

In another strong showing, punctuated by 7 wins in singles, Cate girls tennis has defeated Windward, advancing to the quarter finals of CIF for the first time since 2010. In the next round, Cate will have a chance to avenge last year’s 2nd round loss against Redlands High School in Redlands At 2pm.

Cate got off to a 3-0 start with 6-0 wins from #1 Julia Gan, #2 McKenna Madden, and #1 doubles team Summer Christensen and Kate Dehlendorf, but as the dust settled at the end of the first round, Cate and Windward were locked at three sets each.

Momentum swung to Cate in the second round, as Madden overcame an early deficit, Gan cruised to another easy win, and Sally Shin picked up a big win against the Windward #2. In doubles, Christensen/Dehlendorf added another win and Cate #2’s Victoria Herman and Pharibe Pope gutted out a tie-break win (after having lost their first round match in another tie-breaker). At the end of two rounds Cate had eight wins and close to clinching.

In the third round of play, Cate made some substitutions, but managed to pick up easy wins from Gan, Madden, and Christensen/Dehlendorf to close out 11-7 win.

Here are some photos, courtesy of Cara Christensen and Cecelia Sanborn:

Continue reading “Cate Beats Windward 11-7, Advances to CIF Quarterfinals”

Cate Plays Best Match of Season, Defeats #7 Seed Orcutt in CIF Playoffs

As a coach, these are the matches you hope for. We’d dropped a 12-6 loss to Orcutt earlier in the season, albeit without Julia Gan in the lineup. Our backs were against the wall, playing a seeded team in the first round after having lost a coin-toss for the Condor League Championship. Today though, just about everything went to plan and we played our best match of the season at the most important moment. Continue reading “Cate Plays Best Match of Season, Defeats #7 Seed Orcutt in CIF Playoffs”