Tag Archives: Carol Cai

Cate Doubles Team Continues Remarkable Run in CIF Individuals

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Carol Cai, Grace Fuss at CIF Individuals

Cate seniors Grace Fuss and Carol Cai needed just 45 minutes to dispatch their Edison High School opponents in the play-in round of CIF Sectionals down in Seal Beach yesterday afternoon.

The Cate duo was untouchable in their 6-1, 6-0 victory over Zoe Coggins and Kailee You. Coggins is a nationally-ranked senior who has already been signed by D2 Dominican University of San Rafael, California. Her partner is also a nationally-ranked player, making the overwhelming victory all the more impressive.

The victory follows a bye and two straight-set wins for Cai and Fuss in the CIF Regional event, held last week in Carpinteria. The Cate team had been seeded third in that draw and received the Santa Barbara Round Table press luncheon’s “Athlete of the Week” award for their play in the tournament.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

Carol has been here before and won in this round (two years ago with her sister Jackie), but to be honest, I’ve never seen either Carol or Grace play so freely on the doubles court. The word is devastating; they were absolutely devastating. You could see the morale of their opponents dropping with every big serve from Grace and every down-the-line forehand winner from Carol. They were also finishing points at net and made very few unforced errors.

What’s important is they didn’t do anything beyond what I’ve known they’re capable of, but it’s more that they put it all together at once and carried that momentum from first point to last. My girls played with confidence and poise today, and if that’s any indication of the future, they are far from done in this CIF Individuals tournament. While the majority of the players remaining in this tournament are either signed or receiving interest from D1 collegiate programs, no team is safe in this draw with the Cate girls still in play.

What’s Next for the Cate Girls?!

The Cate pair will return to Seal Beach Tennis Center on Thursday at 10:30am for the Round-of-16.

Cate Rolls St. Bonny, Takes Two Wins Over Previously Undefeated TVL Singles Player

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Cate seniors made the most of their final home game today with a 16-2 victory over St. Bonaventure. The victory was punctuated by two wins over previously undefeated TVL player Helena Insua.

Grace Fuss opened proceedings with a heady display of tactics, mixing slice forehands with devastating down-the-line backhand winners for a 6-3 result. Carol Cai then followed suit with a serving display that saw her take Insua to 6-5 with just one break each, before Cai broke again to take the set 7-5. Insua rallied to beat the third Cate senior, Mia Foster, who went 2-1 on the day.

Thanks to the dual victories, Cate’s pair of senior captains leap-frogged Insua for the top-two singles records in Tri-Valley league play. Fuss is currently 11-1 in league singles play, while Cai is 13-1 in league (9-1 in singles play), while Insua falls to 12-2. Instead of going after the Tri-Valley League Singles Title next week, Fuss and Cai will return to the doubles draw as defending champions, in a bid to make a deep run into CIF Individuals in November.

Junior Madeline Vanica subbed for Fuss after the first round, going 1-1 on the day, while freshman Ellie Tunnell took Cai’s place in the final round, with a 6-0 victory against St. Bonaventure’s #3 player.

In doubles, Cate completed the full nine-set sweep. Junior/sophomore combo Fritze Mayer and Ashi Kamra won their sets 6-1, 6-0, 6-0 as they begin their push towards Tri-Valley League Individuals. The other Cate pairings of Julianna Forry/Maesa Vongkusolkit and Yuki Kobayashi/Emily May also went 3-0 on the day.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I was so happy for my seniors today as they competed in their last home match. Mia had a great singles debut, and Grace and Carol got back on terms after losing to Helena in our away match against Bonny earlier this season. 

It’s incredible to think that across these four seasons, these girls have helped, and in many cases led Cate to a 44-3 record in regular season play. They’ve only lost to San Marcos High and to a couple of stacked D1 teams in the playoffs. What they’ve accomplished in their time at Cate is nothing short of spectacular.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

The win mathematically clinches Cate’s 5th consecutive TVL team title, with tomorrow’s match against Foothill Tech the final barrier to a 5th consecutive season without losing a single league match. The match will be played at Ventura College at 3:15pm.