The Rams continue the march towards an undefeated league season with another impressive performance against last year’s Tri-Valley League runner-up team, Laguna Blanca.
The match featured wins from all 11 Cate players in attendance on the day, with Edie Abbott taking a third-round win at #3 singles and Gwendi Rogers pairing with Colette Chang to go 2-0 on the day at the top doubles position.
In singles, Cate got convincing sweeps from freshmen Ivy Huang and Jade Wang, who dropped just 2 games each across their 6 sets-of-play. Only slightly more impressive was the perfect doubles performance frosh combo Elly Edwards and Claire Tang had at #2 doubles, with the pair recording 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 set-wins.
The Rams will rest up for the remainder of the week before returning to play against Villanova High School in Ojai at 3:30pm on Tuesday, October 1st.
Cate Girls’ Tennis moves to 6-1 overall this season, with a 5th place showing in the 3rd Annual Santa Barbara Invitational Tournament.
Rancho Bernardo d. Cate 4-2
Cate opened the tournament on Friday against the #2-seed, Rancho Bernardo from North County San Diego. The match was competitive throughout, with the final score (2-4) belying the fact that at one point Cate School was just 7 points short of a 3-3 tie that would have resulted in a win on games.
Bright spots for Cate included wins from Lisa Hasebe at #3 singles (6-0, 6-2) and from Claire Tang/Elsie Chamberlain at #3 doubles (6-3, 7-5). Freshman Jade Wang put in a very strong performance against the Rancho Bernardo #2, UTR 6.3-rated Vennela Thangella (3-6, 5-7).
Colette Chang and Reyna Takahashi held a 6-4, 4-1 lead at #1 doubles before Rancho Bernardo came roaring back to win the deciding match in a 10-point tie-breaker.
Cate d. San Dieguito 5-1
Cate rebounded this morning with a convincing win over San Dieguito Academy of Encinitas, also a North County San Diego program. Cate took control early and never let up, winning 5 of the first 6 sets in convincing fashion.
Highlights included a clean sweep of the singles lines, with Huang, Wang, and Hasebe dropping just 4 games total across 6 sets-of-play. In doubles, Cate got a high-quality win from Chang and Takahashi, who took out the San Dieguito #1’s, a 4.5 UTR-rated team. Sophomore Claire Tang and freshman Chelsea Newlove paired for a 6-4, 6-3 win at the #3 spot.
Cate d. Arroyo Grande 5-1
The 5th place match, played at Pershing Park in Santa Barbara, featured Arroyo Grande of the CIF Central Section, fresh off their victory over local team San Marcos High School. Cate put on another outstanding display across the board, taking the first of what will be two matches between these teams on the season.
The Rams registered a doubles sweep this time, with Takahashi/Chang and Tang/Newlove reprising their partnerships at the #1 and #3 positions, while Lisa Hasebe moved to partner with freshman Elly Edwards at the #2 spot.
Cate also counted wins from Jade Wang at #2 (6-0, 6-3) and Claire Bianchi at #3 (6-2, 6-0), while freshman Ivy Huang battled competitively with UTR 5.9-rated senior Elliane Cha at the top slot in the lineup (4-6, 2-6).
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
It was an awesome weekend for us, and one that came as a bit of a surprise when we got the last-minute call-up to enter the tournament two weeks out. We’ve got a team that loves high-level competition and there was lots to be had this weekend. For some of our players, being pushed by stronger opponents in this tournament was absolutely crucial in starting to build up to our mid-season level.
Since we hadn’t counted on being involved in this tournament when we did our scheduling, we actually ended up with 5 matches in 5 days, but the girls seemed to come through it quite well. We dropped our 21-match win-streak yesterday, but it’s nice to come out of the weekend with a 2-match streak already started!
I want to highlight the phenomenal play of Jade Wang, who really shined this weekend, both in victory and defeat. Lisa Hasebe was also performing like clock-work this weekend, going 2-0 in singles and then 1-0 in doubles, dropping just 8 games in 6 sets-of-play.
What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?
Cate will play again on Tuesday, September 24th at home against league rival Laguna Blanca at 3pm.
Cate Girls’ Tennis wins again, moving to 4-0 on the season (2-0 in league play) with a dominant performance at Ventura College against Foothill Tech. This marks 21 consecutive wins and 12 consecutive in league play, dating back to the 2022 season.
How it Happened
Cate got sweeps from sophomore Lisa Hasebe and freshman Jade Wang in singles, while junior captain Claire Bianchi went 2-1 on the day.
In doubles, frosh combo Claire Tang and Ivy Huang defeated the Foothill Tech #1’s 6-2. Senior captain Colette Chang partnered with freshman Elly Edwards to go 3-0 on the day, dropping just 2 games total.
Junior/freshman pairing Elsie Chamberlain and Chelsea Newlove added 6-0, 6-1 wins, while Edie Abbott and Evita Ferrone each went 1-0 on the day.
What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?
Tomorrow, Cate will host the first round of the 3rd Annual Santa Barbara Invitational, with opponent Rancho Bernardo traveling north from CIF’s San Diego District for the 3pm match. On Saturday, the winner will face the winner of SBHS v. San Dieguito, while the losing squads will play on the opposing side of the compass draw format. A final round will be played at Noon, with both match locations for Saturday TBD.
Cate Girls’ Tennis moves to 3-0 on the season (1-0 in Tri-Valley League Play) with a 17-1 win over Thacher School of Ojai.
How it happened
It was all Cate from start to finish, with the Rams dropping just a single set to the #3 singles player from Thacher. A total of 13 Cate players got involved, each recording at least one win on the day.
Sophomore Reyna Takahashi and junior Claire Bianchi led the line for Cate in singles play, each going 3-0 on the day, while freshman Ivy Huang and junior Elsie Chamberlain each added a win.
In doubles, Cate was utterly dominant, recording three 6-0 sets against the Thacher #1 team. Freshman Chelsea Newlove opened her Cate account by going 3-0 on the day in doubles, while sophomore Lisa Hasebe and freshman Elly Edwards did the same, each with various partners as the match progressed.
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
It’s always good to see everyone able to get involved in the win. In addition to the usual suspects, we had strong performances from 6 first-year players, which bodes well for the future. We also got to try out some new doubles combinations, which I think is valuable information going forward.
What’s Next for Cate Tennis?
Cate plays at Ventura College this Thursday at 3:30pm against league opponent Foothill Tech.
Cate Girls’ Tennis defeated the Santa Ynez Pirates to remain unbeaten on the season. The non-league match was played using the CIF Central Section format, similar to that of NCAA tennis, featuring 3 doubles teams contesting an 8-game pro-set, before a round of 6 singles players hit the courts for a 2-of-3 set match. In the end, despite a strong challenge from the Pirates, particularly in doubles, Cate rolled to an 8-1 win.
How it Happened
The match began with very even doubles play from both teams, with Cate holding a slight edge at #2 and #3 doubles and Santa Ynez leading in the early-going at #1.
Sophomore Reyna Takahashi and freshman Ivy Huang came to the edge of defeat, going down 3-7, before mounting a massive comeback. The pair managed to rattle off 6 straight games for a 9-7 win at the #1 spot.
Junior/freshman combo Claire Bianchi and Elly Edwards held a one-game lead through 5-5, before winning the final 3 games to close out their match at #3 doubles.
Despite carrying a lead into the middle of the pro-set, senior/freshman combo Colette Chang and Jade Wang were unable to complete the sweep, dropping the final 3 games at the #2 spot, finishing at 7-9.
In singles, Cate came out roaring with Ivy Huang at #1, Jade Wang at #3, and Claire Bianchi at #4, who all took quick first-set wins. Huang and Bianchi continued to cruise in the second set, while Wang faced a tough challenge from her opponent, but ultimate prevailed 6-4 in the second set.
Reyna Takahashi faced an early challenge from Santa Ynez #2 Haley Townes (UTR 4.1), who held a 4-3 lead. However, Takahashi hung tough and play some strong tennis to close out the first set 6-4 and never looked back, closing out the second set 6-1.
At 5 and 6 singles, sophomore Claire Tang and junior Elsie Chamberlain entered the match with fresh legs and determination. Both players took 3-2 leads, at which point Chamberlain rattled off 9 straight games to close out the win at #6. For Tang, many 50+ ball rallies were needed to squeak out the 7-5 first set, but the effort paid off, as she then had a much easier path to a 6-0 win in the second set at the #5 spot.
What’s Next for Cate Tennis?
Cate enters league play next week, with matches against Thacher (Tuesday, home) and Foothill Tech (Thursday, away). The team will then set its sights on the 3rd Annual Santa Barbara Invitational Tournament crown, with matches scheduled for Friday and Saturday (September 20-21).
There was no shortage of suspense on Cate Mesa today, as the defending CIF D3 Champs got the season underway against D2 Quarterfinalist, Dos Pueblos High School. The match finished locked in a 9-9 tie, with games tied 73-73, triggering a round of tie-breakers to decide the winner.
How it Happened
The first round proved the two teams to be evenly matched, with DP taking 2-of-3 singles sets, while Cate School countered with 2-of-3 in doubles play.
Jade Wang opened her Cate career with a 6-0 victory at #3 singles, while sophomore Lisa Hasebe and freshman Ivy Huang were unable to overcome the deadly DP duo of junior Melisandre Mayo (UTR 6.7) and senior Ellie Triplett (UTR 5.7).
Hasebe would rally to take her next two sets, including a 6-0 win over Triplett, while Huang added a 6-0 win and battled for 3 important games against Mayo.
In doubles, lone Cate senior Colette Chang partnered with sophomore Reyna Takahashi for a clean sweep at doubles line 1 (6-3, 6-2, 6-3). Junior Pyper Davis partnered with freshman Elly Edwards for two wins on the day (1-6, 7-5, 6-3).
Upon completing the 18-set match, and after a flurry of counting and re-counting, it was determined that the two teams would return to the courts to play out a round-robin set of 18 tie-breakers to decide the match.
Dos Pueblos struck first, with upset wins at #3 singles and #1 doubles, but steady play from juniors Claire Bianchi and Elsie Chamberlain returned the favor, keeping Cate in the hunt. However, DP surged to a 9-5 lead with a pair of singles and doubles breakers remaining.
Cate got a boost from Huang against the #3 singles player, while Chang/Takahashi and Davis/Edwards battled through tight matchups to 8-6 and 11-9 wins (respectively).
With the tally standing at 8-9 and Cate up by a single point in the event of a tie, the match hung in the balance of the Mayo v. Wang matchup. In her first match at Cate, Jade Wang regained her focus after losing her first two tie-breakers to defeat the defending Channel League singles champion 7-4. The upset win sealed the match, with Cate taking victory on a 9-9 tie that ended 106-102 after the points count-back.
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
This is my 31st season as a high school tennis coach, between boys and girls and I’ve never seen this before. The probability of a tie in sets, games, and tie-breakers is infinitesimal. It was a total playoff atmosphere even though we’ve only been in school for 4 days and this was our first match of the season.
I’m so impressed by the way both teams competed today, and would have been happy to have had the quality match-play even if we’d lost. To win, and with our freshmen starters Jade, Ivy, and Elly all playing a crucial role at the end, well, that’s something special.
We won this match as a team, with every single player in the lineup contributing key wins at key moments. To do so this early in the season suggests last year’s CIF Championship win wasn’t a one-off and I’m sure this win will serve us well as we work towards another deep November run.
What’s Next for Cate Tennis?
The Cate girls will now head out into the various wilderness areas of California for outings week, before returning to face Santa Ynez High School in another non-league match on Thursday, September 12th (away).
Now in the final week of the season, Laguna Blanca boys’ tennis has improved to 5-6 overall, despite facing strong opponents in Cate and Thacher in the first few days back from a two-week spring break.
Laguna Blanca v. Thacher: 3-15 Loss
Laguna had just one practice leading into a tough league match against visiting Thacher, and paid for it dearly in the 3-15 loss. The Owls were unable to scratch against a strong Thacher doubles lineup, with just Noah Mitev/Enzo Vinoly able to force a close tie-break loss against the Thacher #3 team. In singles, both Mason Berg and Oliver Tande had their chances against the Thacher #1 and #2 opponents but were unable to convert, with the two plus Wyatt Burt only able to secure singles wins against the Thacher #3 player.
Laguna Blanca @ Dunn: 13-5 Win
The Owls shook off the Thacher defeat and regrouped for a quality win over the Dunn School in the Santa Ynez Valley. The win was spearheaded by doubles sweeps from Lucas Ayala/Keanu Christiansen and Noah Mitev/Enzo Vinoly.
In singles play, Mason Berg came close to victory over UTR 6.8-rated Richard Bertea, but would have to settle for a 2-1 record on the day. Oliver Tande also recorded 2 wins, with Wyatt Burt adding a win in the final round-of-play.
Laguna Blanca v. Cate: 5-13 Loss
In what was billed to be a brutally difficult day for the home-team, visiting Cate was unable to dominate the match in the way they had the previous season, en-route to their CIF D3 title.
Laguna fought gamely through out the match, starting with a huge win for freshman Oliver Tande against UTR 7.3-rated senior, Ethan Bloom. Both he and Mason Berg added singles wins over Cate #3, James He, but Nate Newlove from Cate managed to stem the bleeding with a 3-0 day at #2 singles.
In doubles play, Lucas Ayala and Keanu Christiansen were competitive in all three matches (3-6, 3-6, 7-6), including a tie-break win over the #3 team. Sophomores Enzo Vinoly and Noah Mitev struggled to find their footing in the early rounds, but rallied to take a 7-5 victory in the third round against the #3 team as well.
Laguna Blanca v. Bishop Diego: 15-3 Win
This was the most complete performance of the season for Laguna Blanca tennis, with the team having come out of the trials of the last week-and-a-half battle-hardened.
Both Oliver Tande and Mason Berg swept their singles matches, taking quality victories over freshman standout, Lucas Forry. In doubles, it was a clean sweep for the Owls, a first on the season. Sophomores Connor Murphy and Changzheng Yu battled through a tough tie-break win in the first round against the Bishop #3 team, before building nicely to 6-1 and 7-5 victories against the #2 and #1 teams (respectively).
What’s next for the Owls?
Laguna will close out the season with a TVL match against St. Bonaventure High School of Ventura, to be played at Furukawa Tennis Gardens in Hope Ranch, 3:30pm. With a win, the Owls would finish the season 6-6 overall, meeting the pre-season goal laid out for the mostly freshmen and sophomore team by coaching staff.
The Owls entered spring break off the back of an 8-1 win at Santa Maria High School, led by Mason Berg and Oliver Tande at #1 doubles and Keanu Christiansen debuting at #1 singles.
The win broke a two-match slide, with Laguna suffering a tough 6-12 loss with playoffs implications against Villanova Prep. The match may have just come too early in the season, as the Owls dropped a number of 4-6 and 5-7 sets against the more experienced team from Ojai.
Prior to that match, Laguna faced Foothill Tech, a team with no weakness across their lineup, and the likely heir to Cate’s title as league champions. A bright spot in the match was senior Mason Berg’s 6-3 victory over Foothill #2 player, fellow senior James Sokoloski.
The post-spring break Tri-Valley League matches come fast and furious, with 5 scheduled in the final two weeks of the season, with the Owls looking to finish strong to secure the season goal of a .500 overall win/loss record.
It’s not just the season that’s young at Laguna Blanca: the team is compromised almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores, with just one senior and one junior added in for good measure.
Despite their youthful composition, the Owls are off to a solid start to the season, taking two-of-three matches against non-league opponents in the opening weeks of play.
Laguna Blanca @ Orcutt Academy: 7-2 Win
Laguna Blanca boys’ tennis won its first match of the season against Orcutt Academy, 7-2. The Owls traveled to Alan Hancock College in Santa Maria for the match, played using the CIF Central Section scoring format.
In singles, Laguna nearly swept, winning 5-of-6 sets, with the #1 spot a hard-fought 4-8 loss. Freshman Oliver Tande held up under pressure for an 8-6 win at the #2 position, while classmate Keanu Christiansen record an 8-0 win at the #5 position. Sophomore team captain Noah Mitev came from behind to register an 8-6 win at #3 singles, followed by an 8-4 win from his classmate Enzo Vinoly.
In doubles, the Owls top team of Tande/Vinoly lost a tight 7-9 pro-set, while Mitev and freshman Wyatt Burt picked up the 8-6 win.
Laguna Blanca @ Santa Ynez: 2-7 Loss
Despite the scoreboard, the Owls came very close to pulling off the upset in Santa Ynez, with experience seeming to make the difference in close sets.
With doubles played first, captains Mason Berg and Noah Mitev battled gamely, but were unable to overcome the tournament-level experience of the Santa Ynez #1 team of Bryce Wilczak and Lucas Doman.
The #2 and #3 doubles positions offered better opportunities for victory, but it was not to be. Freshman/sophomore combo Oliver Tande/Enzo Vinoly got off to a slow start and were not able to make up enough ground, falling 6-8. Meanwhile, on court 3, junior/sophomore combo Lucas Ayala/Connor Murphy held a 7-4 lead before Santa Ynez came charging back for a 9-7 win.
In singles play, Laguna got wins from Tande and fellow freshman Wyatt Burt at the #2 and #6 positions, respectively. Tande was particularly impressive, with a surgical performance that saw him upset a higher-rated Doman (6-3, 6-2).
Freshman Keanu Christian held a 4-1 first-set lead before succumbing 6-7, 4-6 in a very close match at #5 singles, while sophomores Noah Mitev and Enzo Vinoly both dropped competitive matches at #3 and #4 singles (5-7, 4-6; 4-6, 3-6, respectively).
Laguna Blanca v. Cabrillo/Lompoc: 13-5 Win
After falling to Santa Ynez on Tuesday, Laguna Blanca Boys’ Tennis rebounded sharply yesterday, earning a 13-5 win over visiting Cabrillo High School of Lompoc.
The match featured a near-sweep of the singles sets, with captain Mason Berg picking up his first 3 wins of the season, along with 3 from freshman Oliver Tande, who is now 5-0 on the season in singles play. Freshman Wyatt Burt added 2 set-wins, giving the Owls an 8-1 advantage.
In doubles, no team went undefeated, with Laguna Blanca pairings Keanu Christiansen/Enzo Vinoly and Noah Mitev/Lucas Ayala both finishing 2-1 on the day. Freshman Matthew McDermott saw his first action of the season, pairing with sophomore Changzheng Yu for a 1-2 result across their three sets of play.
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
We are a young team, so of course we had a few slip-ups throughout the course of these early matches, but the effort level has been high throughout. Importantly, we’re improving at a rapid rate and still managing to be competitive so far against these CIF Central Section teams in pre-season play.
We’ve got an even bigger test ahead on Monday against Arroyo Grande, but hopefully that prepares us well for our league opener against Foothill Tech next Friday. Both games will be played at home, so that should help!
When I wrote my last year-in-review post in early 2020, I started by mentioning my mini-camp series, which had occurred 7 times in 2019 and was to occur 9 times in 2020. How could I have known that the series would be sidelined by COVID-19 and how much my life would be re-shaped.
In this next section, I used to write how many days I taught tennis during the year and my longest stretch of consecutive days taught (260 and 55 days in 2019, respectively). In 2023, I worked 365 days of the year at my new business, Casas Thorpe (have you ever been called at 3am by a guest who got drunk and locked themselves out of your Airbnb in another country?). However, I still found time to coach 36 different players between private lessons and my two high school teams at Cate and Laguna Blanca across 225 days.
Speaking of those high school teams, much has unfolded in the time since the last review. On the Laguna side, we recovered from two COVID-impacted seasons to reach the CIF D5 Semifinals in 2022 and in 2023 we finished at .500 or better for the 12th consecutive season!
On the girls side, we went just that little bit farther and took the 2023 CIF D3 Championship Title during my 15th season coaching at Cate School. This accomplishment by a very deserving group of young women is something I have hoped for and worked toward for 29 seasons of coaching high school tennis.
I take great pride in what they have achieved. It even fulfills a bit of a missed goal from my own high school career, where in 2005 I captained Palm Springs High School to a perfect 17-0 regular season record, before we suffered a devastating first round loss in the CIF D2 Playoffs. The record for Cate Girls’ Tennis this season, including playoffs? 17-0. Loop closed.
In the 2019 review, I gave a big thanks to Mark Polowczak for his help with my mini-camp series, and here again I owe him some praise. He’s now back from getting his undergrad at Texas Christian University and back in the Thorpe Tennis fold as my assistant at both schools and he played a pivotal role in our CIF Championship win this year.
In my 2019 review, I mentioned some rare personal tennis exploits, having played on clay in Argentina and Colombia for the first time and partnering with my college doubles partner, Aron Ouye, for a run to the semifinals of the Santa Barbara Open.
In 2023, we linked up again for the first time since that tournament to compete in the San Diego City Championships. While we lost to what was essentially the Estonian national team (current D1 players that were ranked 250 and 350 in the world in juniors), we were surprisingly competitive.
After that tournament, I resolved to not go 4 more years between tournaments and even entered a singles tournament for the first time since the Leslie Allen Santa Barbara Open in 2014! At the San Diego Metropolitan Open I played in the 4.5’s division and won three matches before having to default due to schedule conflict with a Cate match.
Alberto and I plan to defend our title in 2024 and Aron and I have our eyes on the Men’s 35-and-over hardcourt nationals in Arizona in April. Maybe I’ll even get the chance to play a tournament or two with Mark this year…I certainly like our chances against any other high school coaching staff!
Outside of tennis, after years of having flights cancelled and then needing to focus on my work in Merida, I finally hit my 50th country visited. Hiking hut-to-hut in Slovenia was a spectacular experience!
Also during that trip, I had the opportunity to visit Sardinia for the first time and return to Rome and Venice for the first time since childhood.
I even managed to tack on a trip to Scotland with my mom, who’d been longing to revisit that part of the world for a few decades. Can confirm, the whiskey is top-shelf, but also really enjoyed the nature!
Closer to home, I managed to survey various Mexican coastlines with my girlfriend, Maria. We spent time in Baja California Sur, Oaxaca, and Jalisco on the west coast, and took a trip up the eastern seaboard from Bacalar to Playa del Carmen.
Finally, I began to wake up from my endurance exercise slumber. Having completed 23 200-mile bike races between 2011-2019, COVID (and then building my new business in Mexico) almost completely derailed that part of my life. I realized recently that riding a bike 4,000 miles per year and doing insane 210 mile/16,500 elevation gain days (Central Coast Double Century) was a part of my identity that most of my current students didn’t even know about!
In 2023, I got back to nature and strenuous, all-day efforts, culminating in a 46.5mi/36hr backpacking effort in the Cascades from Timberline Lodge to Cascade Locks in Oregon (day 1, day 2).
Just a few weeks earlier, I’d been bitten by the bug (literally and figuratively) in the Goat Rocks Wilderness of Washington, where I and a few family members hiked a 37mi/72hr route (day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4).
My uncle Keith got to revisit his 1985 PCT Thru-Hike and pass the torch to my cousin Phil, who will attempt the same hike in 2024. I’ve signed on to do support and hike a few sections of the PCT with Phil, so I suspect we’ll revisit this topic in the 2024 year-in-review!
While my work as owner/operator of Casas Thorpe Vacation Rentals has become my primary job over the last 3 years, it’s my sincere hope that my impact on the Santa Barbara tennis community through Thorpe Tennis will continue indefinitely. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned with others through the medium of tennis. I hope to see you all on the courts in 2024!
