Cate Girls’ Tennis – Page 11

Cate CIF Run Halted by Strong Murrieta Valley Squad

Cate School faced Murrieta Valley yesterday in the CIF D2 Quarterfinal Round and, sadly, we came out on the losing end (4-14).

Murrieta Valley had too much firepower in singles, sweeping all nine sets. In the first round, it looked that Julia Gan was going to work her magic one more time, going up 3-0 against Jovana Kuljanin, who is ranked #148 in the country and will be playing D1 tennis under scholarship next season. In the end, Gan fell 5-7 in a very close set. From there, it was all Murrieta Valley in singles.

Doubles play was much more even, with Cate’s talented #1 team Summer Christensen/McKenna Madden taking two-of-three. Eva Herman and Janice Ng continued their strong post-season play, winning two sets as well.

In the end, we just came up against a stronger team. There’s nothing more we could have done. My girls made me very proud today, not just in the way they battled, but also in the way they carried themselves. The Murrieta Valley coach remarked to me that our team was the nicest and most sportsmanlike opponent they had faced all season. I can think of no better way to face this defeat.

For Julia Gan, Jackie Cai, and the doubles team of Christensen and Madden, the season isn’t quite over yet, with CIF individuals still ahead at the Cate School on Monday, November 23rd.

For those of you who are interested in the quality of opponent we faced in this match (besides the fact that their school is 12-times the size of ours), here are the top 5 players from Murrieta Valley, who combined to win all 12 sets they played: Jovana Kuljanin, Alana Andrews, Faith Pearson, Kelsey Lajom, Ashley Nishimoto

Cate Downs Oak Park Eagles 12-6, Advances to CIF D2 Quarterfinals

Cate has taken a 12-6 victory in Oak Park this afternoon and now advances to the CIF D2 quarterfinal round.

In singles, Julia Gan swept, beating two very high-level tournament players in Sasha Romanova and Sylvie Van Cott. Jackie Cai also came up with a big win over Romanova and played Van Cott to a tie-breaker in the final round. Cai finished 2-1 on the day.

Perhaps the most crucial moment of the match was Gan’s first-round win over Romanova, which was taken in a tie-breaker, 7-5. I think that win put Oak Park off-balance, because they’re used to sweeps from Romanova and Van Cott. It was pretty clear that Romanova was shaken from the first set while playing Cai, who ended up winning her set against the Oak Park #1, too. Continue reading “Cate Downs Oak Park Eagles 12-6, Advances to CIF D2 Quarterfinals”

Cate Girls’ Tennis Advances in CIF with 14-4 Win

Cate beat Trabuco Hills 14-4 today, at home, in a match very different from last year’s first round. In 2014, Cate had to beat Fullerton in a wildcard round (at Fullerton) in order to reach a first-round matchup against #2 Murrieta Valley (away again). That worked out to two 12+ hour days of travel and competition that left the team exhausted.

This time around, thanks to a stellar regular season that warranted the #5 seeding in CIF D2, Cate got a home match against Trabuco Hills in the first round. Continue reading “Cate Girls’ Tennis Advances in CIF with 14-4 Win”

CIF Playoff Picture: Stellar Season Validated with #5 Seed, Solid Draw

After going 13-1 during regular season play and dominating the Tri-Valley League Individuals Tournament, Cate has received the #5-seed in the CIF Team Playoff Tournament.

We begin our playoff tournament with a home match on Wednesday at 2pm, with the winner going on to play on Friday at 2pm. Our opponent will be the winner of a wildcard round between Trabuco Hills and Fullerton High.

Cate knows plenty about this, as last year we played Fullerton High in the same wildcard round, winning an 11-7 match. We went into the next round against the #2-seeded Murrieta Valley the next day, tired from our efforts, but put up a respectable 6-12 score.

This time around, we’ll have the opportunity to play the tired team at Cate. Should we win on Wednesday, the likely opponent for Friday would be Oak Park. We match up very evenly against them, so that could be a lot of fun! Then, based on seeded teams winning, we would earn a rematch against none other than Murrieta Valley.

First things first, and that’s the match on Wednesday. We’ve had a chance to de-stress a bit, as you’ll see below, but tomorrow’s practice will be all business. There’s plenty left in this season if we hit the courts with our best!

Coach Thorpe Receives Tri-Valley League “Coach of the Year” Award

While some would consider this a small award, it’s a big honor for me and I’m going to talk about it! This sport, my teams, and my players are my absolute passion. To be acknowledged by my peers in the Tri-Valley League as Coach of the Year is validation of that passion and what it can do.

I know that tennis is just a small part of most of my players’ young lives. That said, I also believe that a tennis court is the perfect place to develop the competitive drive, ethics, and self-awareness it takes to be successful on the many playing fields of life. Continue reading “Coach Thorpe Receives Tri-Valley League “Coach of the Year” Award”

All Six Cate Players Make All-League 1st Team in Tri-Valley Individuals Tournament

Yesterday, Cate finished the regular season with a 17-1 victory over Laguna Blanca, despite substituting our top three players out after round one. The team finished with an 13-1 record (8-0 in league play), but today, we took this incredible season to another level.

Each school in the Tri-Valley League fielded two singles players and two doubles teams, with the top three singles players and top three doubles teams to receive All-League 1st-Team Honors. Today, all six Cate players finished in the top three of their respective categories. Continue reading “All Six Cate Players Make All-League 1st Team in Tri-Valley Individuals Tournament”

Tri-Valley League Individual Tournament Results: Cate Dominates!

The Tri-Valley League Individuals Tournament was held at Cate today. All five teams (Cate, La Reina, Carpinteria, Malibu, Nordhoff) were represented by two singles players and two doubles teams each.

In what was expected to be a competition dominated by Cate and La Reina, Cate proved their strength with both singles players and doubles teams advancing to the semifinals and securing all-league honors. Continue reading “Tri-Valley League Individual Tournament Results: Cate Dominates!”

Cate Girls Win Another Close Match on Parents’ Weekend

It was another nail-biter on the Cate Mesa over parents’ weekend! With the score tied 8-8 and two doubles sets left to play, we needed from our #2 or #3 doubles teams, who had both gone 0-2 so far on the day. After three-and-a-half hours of play, both teams ended up getting their first win of the day, making the final score 10-8. Continue reading “Cate Girls Win Another Close Match on Parents’ Weekend”

Cate Completes Clean Sweep of Tri-Valley League with 13-5 Win Over Malibu

With just two non-league contests left (Simi Valley, Laguna Blanca), Cate has now completed the Tri-Valley League sweep with the 13-5 win over Malibu High School. Cate girls’ tennis moves to 11-1 (8-0) on the season with the win today.

Freshman Sarah Polowczak had an excellent day, going 3-0 with Summer Christensen. For Christensen, the sweep meant that she has gone undefeated in league play this year with a 22-0 record.

Eva Herman and Janice Ng swept their three sets of play today, strengthening their case for a high seed in next week’s Tri-Valley League Individuals.

In singles, Julia Gan completed an undefeated league season today as well, going 2-0 and confirming herself as the #1 singles seed for next weeks individual tournament. Additionally, Jackie Cai took three convincing set wins for the Rams in singles play.

Cate plays next on Saturday against Simi Valley at 2pm for parents’ weekend!

Cate Gets Back to Winning Ways after Tough Loss Against San Marcos

Last Friday, we faced the D1 Channel League champs in San Marcos High School and were narrowly defeated. They came in with a 5-star recruit in Yuka Perera (#124 in the nation), another nationally-ranked player in Kelly Coulson at #2 singles, as well as an undefeated #1 doubles team that had 35 wins to their credit this season.

When the dust settled, San Marcos came out the 11-7 victor, but we showed that we can compete with the best teams in Southern California, regardless of division. McKenna Madden and Summer Christensen pushed that #1 San Marcos team to the brink in a very tight 5-7 set and Julia Gan managed to recover from her first loss in over a month to blow by her secound round opponent and then beat an in-form Coulson in the third round.

It was a shame to lose the close match, but it’s also a reality-check at an important moment in the season. This coach had the unfortunate experience of playing for an undefeated Palm Springs High team in the 2005 season that was ranked #3 in CIF D2. We went on to get outplayed in the first round of playoffs, perhaps going in with the assumption of superiority. This match against San Marcos was great practice for the playoffs and it might serve us well to know we’re not invincible.

Today, Cate bounced back from the San Marcos match with a 16-2 win cross-town foe Carpinteria High School. We now move to 10-1 (7-0 in league play) with three matches remaining in the regular season. Continue reading “Cate Gets Back to Winning Ways after Tough Loss Against San Marcos”