Category: Cate Girls’ Tennis

The score was Cate: 9, Carpinteria High: 6. The game totals had Cate +7, but one more win would guarantee victory. Nearly three hours into play, only the third round of doubles play remained. Continue reading “Cate Loses Heartbreaker Against Two-Time Defending CIF D5 Champs”

Despite playing what was arguably our best match of the season, Cate dropped a 5-13 decision against La Reina High.

In the first round of play, La Reina came out swinging with wins over Julia Gan and McKenna Madden at #1 and #2 singles, and despite early indications that the Herman sisters were going to have a very close match v. the La Reina #1 doubles team, that match got away as well.

Cecelia Sanborn came up with very solid play at #3 singles to record Cate’s first win of the match at 6-4, followed shortly thereafter by another 6-4 win from Kate Dehlendorf/Summer Christensen. Pharibe Pope and Emma Liberman failed to convert a few opportunities at #3 doubles, losing 3-6, but played great tennis through all three rounds of play. Continue reading “Cate comes up short in first match against La Reina”

The Cate Lady Rams defeated Nordhoff High School today in Carpinteria with a doubles sweep and six set wins in singles play.

Singles was again led by junior Julia Gan, who won 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 and is now 9-0 on the season, having only dropped a single game. McKenna Madden was back in form today after tough outing last week, winning her sets 6-4, 6-1, 6-0.

In doubles, Eva and Victoria Herman picked up the sisterly sweep, spearheading a doubles campaign that dropped just 3 games in 9 sets.

After playing singles in the first three matches of the season, Cecelia Sanborn partnered with senior captain Kate Dehlendorf to record two wins. Substitutes Maddie Gordon, Madeleine Nelson, and Maki Kobayashi all featured with impressive wins in the third round of play.

Cate girls’ tennis, now 3-1 overall and 1-0 in league, next faces new league opponent La Reina High on Thursday in Westlake.

Facing Villanova at the Cate School today, girls’ tennis gave very little away in a 15-3 blowout.

Despite substituting at #1 and #2 in the third round, Cate doubles came through with eight wins in nine sets. Playing at #3 doubles, senior duo Victoria Herman and Pharibe Pope (pictured below, respectively) led the doubles lineup with three wins (6-3, 6-0, 6-1).

Senior/sophomore partners Kate Dehlendorf (pictured at top) and Summer Christensen won two sets with ease at #1 doubles (6-2, 6-0).

Maddy Gordon and Kate Schroeder took over for Dehlendorf/Christensen in the third round, scoring a 6-4 win. Substitutes Madeleine Nelson and Maki Kobayashi also played in the third round and remained undefeated this season after a quick 6-2 victory.

In singles, juniors Julia Gan and McKenna Madden won six sets without dropping a game. Cecelia Sanborn, playing at #3 singles, managed a 6-4 win in the first round and battled through two more long, closely-contested sets that continued late into the day (2-6, 5-7).

Cate, now 2-0 after a pair of 15-3 wins, will be away on school outings week and then will return to competition against long-time rival Santa Ynez High on Friday, September 19th at the Cate School.

Cate girls’ tennis opened this year’s non-league schedule with a resounding 15-3 at Oxnard High School today, with strength from top-to-bottom.

In singles, returning one-two combo Julia Gan and McKenna Madden notched three wins a piece, dropping only three games total. Cecelia Sanborn took a few sets to get her footing in a new role at #3 singles, but came through with a third-round win against Oxnard’s #2 player, Amber Landeros.

Cate doubles was anchored by returning #1’s Summer Christensen/Kate Dehlendorf and #2’s Victoria Herman/Pharibe Pope, who each picked up two quick wins before being subbed out. Eva Herman/Emma Liberman picked up three wins at #3 doubles, giving away only three games across their three sets. The substitute team of Madeleine Nelson/Maki Kobayashi picked up another set in the third round.

Cate next hits the courts at home on Thursday at home against Villanova Prep at 3pm.

Also, Cate girls’ tennis is proud to announce that we will be offering our services as In-N-Out’s first sponsored athletics program. We’ll be eagerly awaiting future opportunities to showcase the greatness that is In-N-Out.

Kate Dehlendorf
Victoria Herman
Pharibe Pope
Kate Schroeder
Madeleine Gordon
Julia Gan
Emma Liberman
McKenna Madden
Cecelia Sanborn
Summer Christensen
Eva Herman
Madeleine Nelson
Maki Kobayashi

First match is this Tuesday at 3pm @ Oxnard High, then we’ll be at home on Thursday against Villanova at 3:15pm.

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”