Tag: Cate Tennis

Cate Girls’ Tennis Opens D2 Playoff Account with 16-2 Win

The #18-ranked Cate Rams got off to an impressive start against #31-ranked Beckman High School from Irvine, claiming a 16-2 victory in the CIFSS Division 2 playoffs. The win moves Cate to 15-0 on the season.

How it Happened:

Cate came out firing in singles, with junior Jade Wang defeating Beckman #1 and 3-star recruit Clara Hoss 6-0. Freshman Elizabeth Jayich added more fuel to the fire with a 6-1 first round win. Beckman responded at the #3 singles position with a 6-1 win over Cate senior Claire Tang.

In doubles, the matches were much more even, with leads trading hands on all three courts in the early-going. However, Cate was the stronger finisher, claiming all three sets (6-4, 6-3, 6-4).

With the first round going 5-1 in favor of the Rams, the momentum of the match became obvious, and Beckman struggled to get anything going in subsequent rounds.

Wang and Jayich rolled through their second sets, while Tang rallied from 1-4 down to take a 7-6 (5) win over Beckman #2 Violet Luu, a 4.7 UTR player, for perhaps her best high school win yet.

Cate doubles continued to roll, with senior/freshman combo Lisa Hasebe/Kiki Chang remaining undefeated together on the season (20-0). Ivy Huang paired with Edie Abbott at line #2 for a sweep, and the TVL all-league first team pair of juniors Elly Edwards/Chelsea Newlove rounded out the lineup with another sweep.

In the final round-of-play, sophomore Margo Nicholas lost a competitive 2-6 set against Hoss, while senior Evita Ferrone subbed in for a 6-3 singles set win to complete the 16-2 result for Cate.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I asked our girls to step up the intensity level today and they responded in the best possible way. From start to finish, they were composed, driven, and focused on our team objective. I’m particularly proud of the way Jade Wang took the reins and volunteered herself to play line #1 singles today; she handled the pressure and responsibility like the seasoned high school player she has become.

That goes for all of our girls, actually. Claire recovered from her first round loss and picked up her best singles win in 4 years. Lisa continues to anchor the doubles lineup the way she has for each of the last 4 years. Elizabeth, in her first year on the team, won the TVL singles title and dropped just 3 games today in giving us 3 singles set-wins.

This team has a few players left from the CIF D3 Championship team of 2023, but what we’ve built together this year is looking even more formidable. To come out of the gates firing the way we did today bodes well for our chances in these playoffs; we’re ready and we’re hungry for more!

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate will play at Newport Harbor High School in the Round-of-16. Newport Harbor, ranked #34 of 373 schools in CIFSS, took a narrow 10-8 victory over Beckman High School early in the season, leaving Cate the clear favorite in the match-up.

Cate Completes Near Sweep of TVL Individuals Tournament

Cate Girls’ tennis had its most successful individuals campaign of the last 20 years this week, with the Rams claiming the top 2 spots in the singles event and 1st and 3rd in doubles. All 6 Cate players earned TVL All-League First-Team Honors.

How it Happened:

In singles, freshman phenom Elizabeth Jayich won two matches and advanced to the finals, dropping just a singles game on Day 1 of the tournament. Jade Wang also turned in a convincing pair of wins, including a 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals over Laguna Blanca #1 Ella Osley. Osley defeated Wang a year ago in the semifinal round in a close match, but had no answer to the relentless and focused efforts of the Cate junior.

With Jayich and Wang both representing Cate in the championship match, it was an all-Cate affair and the action did not disappoint. Wang came out swing, putting her younger teammate on the back foot in the early games. Jayich turned the tide at 2-3 down, battling through some close games to eventually take the first set 6-4.

In the second set, the two were neck-and-neck until 3-4, when Wang again raised her level to win a pair of games and put herself in a position to serve for the set at 5-4. Jayich responded a second time, locking in on key points and holding her nerve to win the final three games for a 7-5 second set and her first league title.

Jayich follows in the footsteps of her teammates Ivy Huang and Lisa Hasebe, who also won the TVL singles title as freshmen (2024 and 2023, respectively).

In doubles, a late scratch of Ivy Huang (who was last year’s doubles champion) meant it would be freshman Kiki Chang getting her moment in the limelight. The Cate freshman paired with Lisa Hasebe, who was already the 2-time defending league doubles champion, and the duo were unstoppable. Across two matches, they dropped just a single game and booked their ticket to the final.

It looked for a moment that Cate might be playing an intersquad match of sorts for both league titles, with juniors Elly Edwards and Chelsea Newlove coming in undefeated and garnering the #2 seed. The pair took care of business in the quarterfinal round with an 8-3 pro-set win, but faced a stiff challenge in the semifinal round. Villanova moved its top 2 singles players into doubles for the tournament, including last years’ TVL singles champion Chloe Kalison and the senior pair proved too strong a challenge.

Villanova took the semifinals match over the Cate #2s by a final score of 6-3, 6-4, although the match had a number of momentum shifts that kept viewers on edge until the very end. The team of Edwards/Newlove then secured 3rd place with a 7-6, 6-0 win over the top Thacher team, leaving just the doubles final to be decided.

Hasebe and Chang against Kalison and Poon was a see-saw battle throughout, with the Cate team taking the first set 6-4, before the Villanova pair rallied to a 6-2 second set. In the final round, Cate trailed most of the way and it was beginning to look like Hasebe might suffer her first defeat in 4 years of TVL Individuals play (singles champion 2023, doubles champion 2024/2025).

With her back against the wall, Hasebe dug deep, chasing down balls on both sides of the baseline and even charging forward for an approach shot/swinging backhand volley combo that had the Villanova pair at a loss for options. The surge of the senior seemed to motivate her freshman partner, with Chang regaining her confidence at net to help the Cate pair reach 5-4 in the final set.

At this stage, Chang was serving and the Villanova strategy was clear: don’t let Hasebe have a play on the ball. Chang served big, even on second serve, but Kalison and Poon answered with powerful returns, forcing Chang to rally cross-court with the two seniors from the baseline.

Chang was equal to the challenge, eventually overcoming them both with her aggressive ball-striking, and on the one occasion they didn’t manage to hit cross-court, Hasebe was waiting to pounce at net, stinging the ball with a crisp forehand volley winner through the middle. Chang served at 40-15 for the title, and after a few balls exchanged cross-court, a Villanova ball sailed just long, clinching the victory for the Cate duo (6-4, 2-6, 6-4).

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

Our girls executed at a high level throughout this tournament and I could not be more proud with the way they took care of business. We had a dominant season as a team, but it can be a totally different challenge in the individuals tournament, as singles players sometimes pair up into the doubles draws and nerves and illness can take their toll. Instead, everyone rose to the occasion.

I’m especially proud of how our freshman Kiki stepped into Ivy’s shoes and with the way Lisa took over in the key moments. She really showed us again why she’s a captain and the only player in league history to never lose an individuals match across 4 seasons.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

The Rams will learn their playoff fate on Saturday, when CIFSS Playoff draws are published. The team playoffs are scheduled to start next week on Wednesday, when Cate is likely to have a home match to start another playoff push. Jayich, Wang, Hasebe, and Chang will then compete individually on Monday, November 23rd in the CIFSS Regional event, held at Cate/Carp High.

Cate Girls’ Tennis Goes 17-1 Against Thacher in Parents’ Week Matchup

The CIF Southern Section #23-ranked Cate girls’ tennis team defeated visiting Thacher School 17-1 in the battle of the boarding schools, taking one step closer to a 4th consecutive unbeaten Tri-Valley League season. Cate has now won every match against Thacher since 2014, despite Thacher claiming 2 CIF Division Titles during that same period.

How it Happened:

Cate was led by the usual suspects in singles, with Elizabeth Jayich, Ivy Huang, and Jade Wang all remaining undefeated in both TVL and CIFSS play this season. Senior Evita Ferrone and sophomore Margo Nicholas subbed in for Jayich and Wang in the final round, securing 6-0, 6-2 victories of their own against the top-2 Thacher singles lines.

In doubles, senior/freshman combo Lisa Hasebe and Kiki Chang also remained unbeaten on the season together, with a 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 showing at line #1. Elly Edwards returned to the doubles lineup for the Rams, taking set wins with Chelsea Newlove and Riya Mitera, before she gave way to senior Claire Tang (partnering with Mitera) in the third round for a 6-0 set-win. Seniors Edie Abbott and Gwendi Rogers went 2-1 on the day.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

This win puts us at 13-0 entering our final week of the regular season, but more important is what we’ve been able to take from each victory. Our doubles players especially are growing in confidence and looking for those opportunities to be aggressive at net.

I’m also pleased with the way the whole team is serving at this point in the season; it’s rare to see a double fault from our team, and when you do see it, it’s usually preceded or proceeded by an ace or unreturnable serve.

We’re not taking any opportunities to compete and improve for granted and that’s an indicator of our team’s intention to make a deep playoff run this season, regardless of the CIF Division into which we get placed.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate has a fun practice with family planned for tomorrow before returning to action next Thursday at home for a senior day and regular season finale match against TVL #2-ranked Laguna Blanca School.

Cate Dominates 2026 SB Tennis Invitational

The Cate Rams Girls’ Varsity Team has taken the 5th Edition of the Santa Barbara Tennis Invitational, marking the first time a local team has won the event.

Cate came through three dual matches in 24hrs with 6-0, 5-1, and 6-0 wins, playing two rounds against San Diego Section opponents (San Marcos/SD and Rancho Bernardo), before taking down Bay Area power-house, Monta Vista, in the tournament finale.

How it Happened:

Cate d. San Marcos/San Diego 6-0

Cate swept through the first round of competition against San Marcos High School, visiting from San Diego County.

The Rams took a 4-0 lead through the first round-of-play, collecting straight set wins from Lisa Hasebe and Claire Tang at #2 and #3 singles, with the two seniors dropping just 3 games total between them. At doubles #2 and #3, Cate collected a pair of 6-1, 6-4 matches from juniors Elly Edwards/Chelsea Newlove and seniors Gwendi Rogers/Edie Abbott.

In the second round-of-play, Elizabeth Jayich and Ivy Huang combined for a 6-1, 6-1 win at line #1 doubles, while junior Jade Wang was made to work considerably more for her win at line #1 singles.

Wang dropped the first set 2-6 again San Marcos’s senior #1 player Yuna Martin (UTR 5.3), but re-found her best for a 7-5 second set and a dominant 10-1 match tie-break.

Cate d. Rancho Bernardo 5-1

Cate again leapt out to the early lead, this time spurred by quick wins from Ivy Huang (6-0,6-3) and Margo Nicholas (6-3, 6-0) at #2 and #3 singles, respectively.

In doubles, senior/freshman combo Claire Tang/Kiki Chang took a 6-4, 6-1 victory at #3. The #2 doubles match was more even, with Edwards and Newlove splitting sets (6-3, 2-6) before dropping a tight 8-10 match tie-break.

The line #1 matches were all-Cate, all the time, with Elizabeth Jayich holding down the top spot with a 6-0, 6-1 victory and Jade Wang combining with Lisa Hasebe for a 6-1, 6-3 win.

Cate d. Monta Vista 6-0

Cate continued to dominate the SB Invitational, taking 3 of the opening sets in the first round-of-play. Jade Wang was the first of the courts, registering a 6-2, 6-0 win at line #3 singles.

The next three took a bit more doing, with Ivy Huang dropping the opening line #2 singles set 3-6, and doubles #2-3 pairings Elly Edwards/Chelsea Newlove and Claire Tang/Margo Nicholas battling to 6-4 first set leads. The second sets in doubles were more lopsided, with Cate taking 6-2 and 6-0 sets, respectively.

With the 3-0 lead, Ivy Huang fought back, taking the last 5 games of the second set (6-2) to draw even with senior Lisa Yoshida of Monta Vista. Huang lead from start to finish in the match tie-break, eventually closing her match and clinching the tournament for Cate with a 10-6 score.

Senior captain Lisa Hasebe and freshman Kiki Chang took the court in the final match of the day, facing the steep challenge of Monta Vista #1 doubles team Thea Krishnaswamy/Anna Zhang. Going down 0-3 early, the pair battled back to an 8-6 win, cementing the championship without a loss in the finals.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

When we talked about this tournament this week, I reminded our girls of a pattern of progress that had developed in our first few years of participation in the SB Invitational; 5th place in 2024, 3rd place in 2025, and aspirationally, a continuation of that descending pattern in 2026.

What seems nice in theory doesn’t necessarily come to pass in reality, but this Cate girls’ tennis team outperformed expectations throughout the tournament. Despite the convincing final scores, there were numerous closely contested matchups in each round.

In the match against San Marcos/SD, Jade came back from a pretty deep hole at line #1 singles, and Ivy did the same in the final match against Monta Vista. The support from the sidelines and across courts was exceptional throughout, and the team took a big step forward in confidence.

We really appreciate the willingness of these teams to come out and compete against us in our own backyard, because this type of challenge is what reveals our full potential. I think we learned this weekend that we are a championship caliber team, so this was the perfect first dress rehearsal for CIF Playoffs later this fall.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis

Cate, now 8-0, returns to action in a league match against Thacher in Ojai on Tuesday, September 29th at 3:30pm. Cate will also host Arroyo Grande next week, with the Central Section team making the drive out on Saturday, October 3rd at 10am.

Rams Shut Out Sharks with 18-0 Victory

Cate spared not a single set for visiting Malibu High School, taking all 18 sets-of-play in the Tri-Valley League match held today on Cate Mesa. Cate moves to 5-0 (2-0 in league play) and looks poised to continue the streak at this weekend’s Santa Barbara Invitational Tournament.

How it Happened:

Cate’s singles lineup featured usual #2 doubles partners Elly Edwards and Chelsea Newlove, who each collected two set wins on the day. Edwards opened the match with a tight 6-4 win over Malibu #1 Ana Mitrovic (4.6UTR) and is now 8-0 overall this season, with 4 wins in singles and 4 in doubles.

Senior Evita Ferrone and sophomore Margo Nicholas added a pair of 6-2 wins against the Malibu #2, while freshman Elizabeth Jayich and junior Jade Wang each collected 6-0 wins against Mitrovic.

In doubles, it continues to be all Cate, all the time. After the perfect 54-0 doubles game-score across 9 sets versus Villanova last week, the Rams followed up the performance with a 54-6 showing today.

Last year’s TVL Doubles Champions and CIF Round-0f-32 pairing, Ivy Huang/Lisa Hasebe, made their season debut together at line #1. The duo scored a 6-0 win before being replaced by juniors Josie Goldhirsh and Riya Mitera. Cate received 3-set sweeps from Claire Tang/Kiki Chang at #2 and Gwendi Rogers/Edie Abbott at #3 doubles.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I really enjoyed seeing the girls take on different roles in the lineup today. I think that, although there’s a lot to be said for specialization, giving some doubles players the room to roam the court and think out a singles match provides some insights that they can then take back into their usual roles.

Elly stepped up her game big-time today to take what is probably her best singles win to-date and Chelsea also showed us her versatility when not confined to the tighter spaces and targets of the doubles game.

We also got to see our new sophomore Margot compete for the first time today, after finally waiting out the transfer sit-out period, and she did not disappoint!

We’re firing on all cylinders already as we head into one of our big season objectives this weekend.

What’s Next For Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate opens SB Invitational play on Friday afternoon at 3pm, playing at home against San Marcos High School from San Diego County. The winner will play the winner of San Marcos High School from Santa Barbara and Rancho Bernardo High School from San Diego County at 9am on Saturday morning in the Semifinal Round. The Finals will be held at Noon on Saturday.

Doubles Domination Spurs 17-1 Cate Victory

Cate girls’ tennis nearly pulled off the complete sweep today, taking a 17-1 victory over visiting Villanova Prep. The Rams move to 4-0 on the season with the win in their league-season opener.

How it Happened:

Cate’s doubles prowess was on full display today, recording a perfect 6-0 sweep of all 9 sets on that side of the scoresheet. Senior Captain Gwendi Rogers and her junior partner Josie Goldhirsh paired for 3 wins, with the team of Chelsea Newlove/Kiki Chang matching the effort with another 3 sets.

Senior doubles anchor Lisa Hasebe partnered with fellow senior Claire Tang in the first round, before handing the baton to another senior, Edie Abbott, for the final two rounds.

In singles, freshman Elizabeth Jayich continues her unbeaten streak, taking a 6-0 win over defending TVL Singles Champion Chloe Kalison. Junior Jade Wang followed suit in the second round, recording a 6-1 victory over the Villanova senior. Kalison registered a 6-1 win over Cate substitute Riya Mitera in the third round.

Elsewhere in singles, Ivy Huang and Elly Edwards went 2-0 on the day and Evita Ferrone notched a 6-0 win over the Villanova #3 singles player in the final round, while coming in off the bench.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

It’s not often you see an entire doubles card with no games surrendered, so I’m obviously very proud of the way our doubles unit took care of business. Ivy also had a really nice comeback after suffering an injury in her second match; she was very gutsy fighting back from 2-5 down to take the final 5 games of that set. Both the hunger to take every game and the grittiness to battle back that I saw from the team today will serve us well come playoff-time!

What’s Next for Cate Tennis?

Cate will face TVL newcomer, Malibu High School, on Tuesday next at Cate. Following the Malibu match, The Rams turn their attention toward the SB Invitational on Friday and Saturday of next week.

Cate Remains Undefeated with 15-3 Win over San Marcos

Cate School girls’ tennis heads into the annual “outings week” break with a convincing 15-3 victory over visiting San Marcos High School. The girls will now trade their racquets in for backpacking gear and move away from the courts and into the Sierra, taking with them a 3-0 season record and three weeks of solid training.

How it Happened:

Cate singles faced a strong challenge today from 5.6 UTR-rated junior Tate Jaeger of SM, who came out firing against freshman Elizabeth Jayich. The two traded the first four games of the match, 3 of them going to the “deuce + 1,” before Jayich broke away to claim a 6-3 victory.

In the second round, junior Jade Wang of Cate had a similarly close battle, finding herself locked in a close one until 3-4. At that point, there was a clear swing in momentum as Wang changed tactics, mixing aggressive baseline striking with a few well-timed drop shots; the final 3 games went quickly in Cate’s favor.

With Jayich and Wang eventually sweeping their three sets each, senior Claire Tang (who filled in for usual singles star Ivy Huang) collected a set win and fought gamely to two competitive losses against the San Marcos #1 and #2 singles players.

In doubles play, senior/freshman combo Lisa Hasebe/Kiki Wang remain undefeated as a pair, taking their three sets 6-0, 6-1, 6-0. Seniors Gwendi Rogers and Evita Ferrone put forth a similar line, going 3-0 on the day as well (6-1, 6-0, 6-2). Edie Abbott and Jose Goldhirsh filled out the results with 2 solid wins and a tight 4-6 loss to the SM #1 team.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I want to highlight all three of our singles players today. Tate Jaeger came out firing today and so I was impressed by the way both Elizabeth and Jade kept their composure throughout those very competitive line one matches. Just as encouraging for me as a coach, Claire really rose to the occasion playing Jaeger in the third round; she was her usual consistent self, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her move so well. Although she didn’t get the win, I loved the effort and see the progress in her game.

I’m also happy with the way we managed some sickness that’s been moving through Cate over the last week. We had a key singles player and a key doubles team missing from the lineup, but didn’t miss a beat. When players who don’t normally start heard them names called, they we’re ready to roll. As we’ve seen many times in the past, having the depth to put together a winning lineup when players are missing is key to making a deep playoff run in November; that’s our intention and so far we’ve shown we have what it takes.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Yosemite, Kern, maybe a dip in an alpine lake or a bear sighting during the outings week break. Then, it’s back to business with the Tri-Valley League season opener against Villanova Prep on September 17th.

Cate defeats Channel League Champions 17-1 in All-Santa Barbara Match-Up

Cate moves to 2-0 on the season with a dominant performance over visiting Dos Pueblos High School. With the win over the defending Channel League champion Chargers, Cate takes poll position for top team in Santa Barbara County.

How It Happened:

Cate swept doubles play, with senior Lisa Hasebe partnering with freshman Kiki Chang for a 6-0, 6-1, 6-0 sweep. Seniors Edie Abbott and Gwendi Rogers also swept, including a come-from-behind win in the second round, where they trailed 2-5 against the Charger #2 squad. Chelsea Newlove paired with Elly Edwards for 2 wins before a third victory partnered with Claire Tang.

In singles, Ivy Huang again led Cate with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 line on the day, while freshman Elizabeth Jayich made her season debut with a pair of 6-0 wins against the Chargers top 2 players. Junior Jade Wang had a particularly strong day, playing the #3 line for Cate. She earned three wins while dropping just 2 games on the day.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

It’s great to get a first look at what the full roster can do. Our singles lineup is the strongest it has ever been, which has already led to some great practices for our singles players leading into this match. We’ve also got a very experienced mix of players across our doubles lineup, including a few seniors who have been around since our CIF title run in 2023.

Dos Pueblos has been our toughest regular season opponent in each of the last 3 seasons, so getting this convincing result is a good early-season indication of the level we’re playing at right now. That said, I think we’ve got a lot of room to grow in the coming months; very exciting!

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate will host a 3:30pm match against San Marcos High School on Thursday before heading off to various hiking/backpacking adventures for outings week.

Cate Spring Junior WTN Recap

More than 40 high school (and future high school) players competed in the Cate Spring Junior WTN Tournament over the weekend, with some local names featuring in each of the three finals matches.

In Girls’ Singles, Cate School sophomore Elly Edwards took the title over finalist Adhya Reddy-Hoelle with an emphatic 6-0 victory. The win in the single-elimination playoff avenged her tie-break loss to Reddy-Hoelle in the Group Stage of the girls draw, held earlier in the day. 

Photos of Elly Edwards taken by Ben Elkin

Cate has now claimed the girls’ singles title in both editions of the 2026 series, with Edwards’ fellow sophomore Cate teammate, Jade Wang, taking the winter title.

Boys’ Doubles was nearly an all-Cate affair in the winter event, with 3-of-4 players in the final able to walk across campus from their dorm rooms for the tournament. This time around, it was 2 teams from San Marcos High School and 2 from Viewpoint in Calabasas who battled for the final 4 positions in the doubles compass draw.

In the end, it was Levi Reece and Jacob Cantrell from SMHS who took the title over Viewpoint’s Vance Resnick and Gavin Holmes. The San Marcos team battled back from 0-3 and 2-5 down in a determined fashion to claim the title, winning the final 5 games for an exciting 7-5 finish. 

Meanwhile, on the next court over, their high school teammates Paolo Borgioli and Eliot Gray nabbed third place from Jonah Windisch and Casey Bernstein of Viewpoint. Cate’s top doubles performance came from sophomore/freshman duo Alex Danely/Nolan Hsing, who battled back from a first round loss to take 5th place.

Singles play for the 32-player boys’ draw began on Saturday with players competing in 8 grouping of 4 players, round robin-style. The group stage yielded 16 players for the Sunday afternoon single-elimination playoff. 

Amongst those who advanced were 3 middle school entrants who all kept the high school boys on their toes throughout the tournament. In the Round-of-16, Ryder Eberz battled to 4-6 against the top seed, Harry Pedersen went 5-7 against the #10 seed, and Tyler Spaulding also managed to play some great points against the eventual champion.

Elsewhere in the draw, Oliver Tande took a pair of wins and defeated the #3-seeded Gavin Holmes en-route to a semifinal showing. The Laguna Blanca junior went one better than his performance in the winter edition, where he also defeated a #3-seeded player to reach the quarterfinal round, before falling to eventual champion Kakeru Hirofuji (Cate).

The other semifinalist was Jonah Windisch, who matched his semifinals performance in morning doubles competition. Windisch took a 6-4 victory over Cate junior James He and another 6-4 win over Nicholas Christman, a junior at Atascadero High School.

Photos of Nicholas Christman and Lucas Forry taken by Griffin Gruber

With top-seeded junior Lucas Forry of Santa Barbara High School and #2-seed Vance Resnick of Viewpoint reaching his second final of the day, the battle for the title was sure to be a thriller. 

The set featured very close competition, with neither player able to pull out a significant lead. At 4-4, Forry broke Resnick, earning a chance to serve the match out, but Resnick fought off a set point to continue the back-and-forth affair. Eventually, the two found themselves locked in a tie-breaker to decide the title. Even then, the two lefties stayed close in the early-going, trading blows both from the baseline and at net. Finally, Resnick managed to close out the match 7-4 by winning the final 3 points to take the championship and finish the weekend 7-0 in singles play.

As a tournament director, I was honored to have such an outstanding group of boys and girls tennis players competing across the weekend. The competition was fierce, exciting, and enthusiastic and we had great representation from a variety of coastal California players from Atascadero to Malibu. 

I also want to take the opportunity to again recognize our 5 Sportsmanship Award winners, who helped save the day Sunday morning when we had a wet court delay; Vance Resnick, Gavin Holmes, Jonah Windisch, Ryder Eberz, and Harry Pedersen all earned $25 Tenniswarehouse gift cards when they showed up early and volunteered to help push puddles and get the courts dry so the morning matches could get on court. 

While we had some great examples of sportsmanship during the matches, I think it’s important this time to recognize these guys for their proactiveness in helping. A core element of sportsmanship is doing the right thing or making the extra effort to be kind, even when it might not seem like anyone is watching. The mentality of being a good sport should extend beyond the match, to the school or club, where inevitably it can also then become a part of who we are outside the tennis world, too. Thanks guys!

The spring edition of the Cate WTN Tournament Series is round two of a three-part series, which will conclude with a fall edition on October 10-11. I look forward to seeing many familiar faces and hopefully some new additions to the mix in the fall.

Trevor Thorpe – Tournament Director

Inaugural Cate Winter Junior WTN Tournament Recap

Over the weekend, 52 players competed in the “first-of-its-kind” Cate Winter Junior WTN Tournament at the Cate School in Carpinteria.

The tournament is designed to prepare high schoolers (and aspiring high school players) for the CIF-Southern Section scoring and match style. The format also allows players to improve the reliability of their USTA/ITF “WTN Rating,” the newly emerging standard for comparing player levels across all divisions of tennis.

A total of 111 matches were played, between boys and girls singles and doubles, utilizing the CIF-Southern Section “single-set, deuce+1 scoring format.”

In a nod to World Cup “Futbol” tournament organization, Day 1 featured round-robin groupings of four players, with the top players advancing to a singles single-elimination draw in the afternoon of Day 2. Between the singles action, 8-teams of boys and girls competed in doubles compass draws.

When the dust settled, Cate players had done their school proud, taking victory in all four events, despite facing players from as far north as Atascadero, as far south as Los Angeles, and as far east as Lithuania!

In girls’ singles, sophomore standout Jade Wang was dominant, dropping just 4 games in 5 matches, including a 6-3 finals win over junior Chloe Kalison 6-3 of Villanova High School. The victory follows her win at the Santa Barbara Winter Level 6 USTA Tournament in the G16 division just 5 weeks ago. Sophomore Cate student Elly Edwards also reached the semifinal round, falling 4-6 to Kalison.

Boys’ singles featured a number of exciting matchups on both days, with 3 of the top 4 seeds advancing to the semifinal round. Laguna Blanca junior Oliver Tande pulled off the upset of the tournament over #3 seed Gavin White of Thacher School in the Round of 16, while #5-seeded Lucas Forry of Santa Barbara High School eventually reached the semifinal round with a 6-1 win over Alex Corbo of San Luis Obispo High School.

Cate sophomore Bruce Li proved too much for Forry on the bottom half of the draw, while Cate junior Kakeru Hirofuji took out #1 seed Grantas Pikunas, a highly rated Lithuanian exchange student playing for Dunn School this season.

In the all-Cate finale, Hirofuji’s relentless intensity overcame Li’s length and athleticism, with Hirofuji taking the 6-2 win in what was a reversal of fortunes from the boys’ doubles final earlier in the day.

After three rounds on Sunday morning, the two Cate singles players also found themselves on opposite ends in the finals, with Hirofuji and Forry partnering against Li and fellow Cate sophomore Kendrick Suen. The match-up was close from start to finish, with Li/Suen eventually defeating Hirofuji/Forry 7-5 in a tie-breaker to claim the boys’ doubles trophy.

The girls’ doubles was also a 7-5 tie-break victory, playing out on the next court over within minutes of the boys’ event. Singles players Wang and Edwards of Cate came through the semifinals with a 6-3 win over freshman Ella Osley of Laguna Blanca and 8th grader Keren Monroy. Meanwhile, #1-seeded Cate sophomore/junior combo Ivy Huang and Reyna Takahashi posted a 6-1 victory over their junior teammates Gwendi Rogers and Claire Tang.

In the all-Cate girls’ final, Huang and Takahashi were pushed to the limit, defending a match-point at 5-6, before recovering to win a closely contested tie-breaker.

Not to be left out, Cate’s Kendrick Suen and middle-schooler Hannah George received the tournament honors (and TennisWarehouse gift cards) for their excellent sportsmanship throughout the tournament. In addition to Suen’s doubles title performance, both players went 3-0 in their singles groupings on Day 1, proving that winning and sportsmanship can coexist!

Players and spectators also did an admirable job attempting to finish off all the food from the “surprise” pizza party at lunch-time on Day 2. Only 1 of 10 pies had to be sent off to the Cate School boys’ dorm rooms for immediate disposal.

Big thanks need to go to a number of people who made this event possible: Greg Tebbe at Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons, Wade Ransom at Cate School, Mark Polowczak and Cameron DeAragon on the tournament staff team, Fred Randall for taking photos of the doubles players in action, the Danely family for being the first to sign up when the entry list was empty and lonely, and my wife Maria who put up with me obsessing over making this tournament as good as I could make it.

Thanks also to the players for their efforts and parents for their kindness throughout the weekend. I enjoyed every minute of that tournament and hope you all did, too!

If you’d like to see more of the results for this tournament, visit the Cate Winter Junior WTN Tournament on the USTA website. For Fred’s downloadable photos from the doubles tournament, click here. If you’re already looking forward to the next one, save the dates (May 2-3, 2026) and sign up early for the Cate Spring Junior WTN Tournament.

Draws will be limited to 32 singles players and 8 doubles teams and both doubles draws ended up with alternates in the inaugural edition. Also, early sign-ups mean the tournament director has fewer headaches and more time to plan a fun event!

Trevor Thorpe – Tournament Director