The Rams maintained their unbeaten streak with wins on Thursday (at Malibu) and Friday (versus St. Ignatius) this week, after heat cancelled a Tuesday match against Villanova and forced practices into the early morning hours. Cate is now 11-0, including 5 wins against out-of-section opponents (St. Ignatius, Monta Vista, Rancho Bernardo, San Marcos/SD, Stockdale) and 4 wins over Tri-Valley League opponents.
How it Happened:
Cate d. Malibu High 18-0
Cate made the journey down to Malibu minus its 5 seniors for what turned out to be senior day for the home team. However, the Rams wasted no opportunity for victory, showing just how strong next years team will be.
Elizabeth Jayich, Ivy Huang, and Jade Wang combined for a 54-2 game-score across 9 sets in the singles lineup. The trio have been unbeatable in league play so far this season.
In doubles, Cate juniors Elly Edwards and Chelsea Newlove held down the top line, going 2-0 without dropping a single game before JV call-up Adele Tan paired with Newlove for a 6-1 win in the third round. First year varsity pairings Kiki Chang/Margo Nicholas and Riya Mitera/Josie Goldhirsh collected three wins each to complete the sweep.
Cate d. St. Ignatius 10-8
The second of the back-to-back matches was to be a much more closely contested affair, with the teams locked at 4-4, and 6-6, before Cate finally pulled away in the final round-of-play.
St. Ignatius #1 player Emerson Howard is the first this season to defeat all three of the Cate triumvirate (Jayich, Huang, Wang) in singles play. Howard, already headed to play D3 tennis and la crosse at Chapman University next year, was pushed hard by the Cate trio, but her phenomenal athleticism and consistency was too much in the end.
Cate faired better against the St. Ignatius #2 (Eloise Cuolombe, UTR 6.3) and #3 (Daria Savchenkova, UTR 5.9) line, with both Jayich and Huang collecting wins.
The Rams #1 and #2 doubles positions carried the team to victory, collecting 6 sets via Lisa Hasebe/Kiki Chang (6-3, 6-1, 6-2) and Elly Edwards/Claire Tang (6-3, 6-1, 6-0).
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
We had two very different matches in the last two days. Malibu was a fun one, getting to bond with the underclassmen over a strong win, a run up the infamous sand hill, and the overwhelming good Chipotle/Crumbl Cookie combo dinner.
In St. Ignatius, we found our hardest challenge of the season so far; they really pushed us to the limit, especially in singles. I thought the team responded well to the challenge, with Elizabeth and Ivy securing a couple strong match-wins in singles and Lisa and Kiki continuing to dominate at #1 doubles. Elly and Claire paired up for the first time this season and were super-impressive in Chelsea’s absence, which turned out to be crucial for the win today.
We’re currently ranked #17 of 373 schools in CIFSS, which puts us near the top of Division 2, so we’re likely to meet this level of opponent regularly in playoffs this season. Tests like this are what will prepare us well to go after another CIF Championship.
What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?
Cate returns to action at Laguna Blanca School on Tuesday to complete the first round of TVL league play. The match will be played at 3:30pm in Hope Ranch. Cate will also be hosting a USTA tournament this weekend, with players from as far as Paso Robles journeying to Cate Mesa for the Cate Fall Junior WTN Tournament. The event is the third in a three-part series aimed at high school players and those preparing for the high school level.
Cate girls’ tennis has now won 27 consecutive league matches, going 10-0 this season to earn a third consecutive Tri-Valley League Title. 
After a resounding 17-1 victory against Carpinteria High School last Thursday, Cate faced local powerhouse San Marcos High School in a battle between (arguably) the two strongest girls’ tennis programs in Santa Barbara County. While Cate did not come out on top, there is no doubt that the match had a positive impact on the season and that energy yielded results in Malibu yesterday. 
