Tag: Rancho Bernardo

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.

Cate Takes 3rd in SB Invitational

The Rams finished 2-1 on the weekend to earn 3rd place in the 4th Annual Santa Barbara Girls’ Tennis Invitational Tournament.

Cate lost to Monta Vista High School from Cupertino in the semifinals, before rallying for a 6-0 win over Rancho Bernardo of San Diego in the 3rd place match.

The win over Rancho Bernardo reverses a 2-4 loss from last year’s edition, where Cate went on to sweep up 5th place from the backdraw.

How it Happened:

Cate battled gamely against Bay Area powerhouse Monta Vista, who are already competing in their 3rd tournament of the young season.

In singles, while the Cate trio of Ivy Huang, Jade Wang, and Reyna Takahashi failed to pick up any sets, the sets that they played featured excellent rallies and competitive points.

Doubles was much closer, with tie-break sets played on all 3 courts. Lisa Hasebe and Chelsea Newlove took the top Monta Vista team to a tie-breaker in the first set, while Elsie Chamberlain and Elly Edwards were similarly competitive at the #2 spot, losing 3-6, 6-7. Cate picked up a nice win from “the Claires” (Claire Bianchi and Claire Tang) at #3 singles, who won 6-2, 6-7, 10-8.

Regrouping for the afternoon match, Jade Wang moved into the #1 singles position and took a 6-1, 6-1 victory over her Rancho Bernardo opponent. Reyna Takahashi added an impressive 6-1, 6-0 win at line #2.

Ivy Huang moved to doubles, pairing with Lisa Hasebe for a competitive 6-4, 7-5 win at the top line. Elsewhere, sophomores Newlove/Edwards and senior/junior combo Chamberlain/Tang won their matches more convincingly (6-1, 6-3 and 6-2, 6-3).

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

This tournament was a critical step forward for us as a team with championship aspirations. The teams we played today have a lot of players of the variety we’re likely to face in CIF later this season, and the girls did not shy away from the competition.

The way we competed against top teams leveled up our competence and our confidence as a team and everyone seemed to really enjoy the experience.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate returns to action on Tuesday at Laguna Blanca, in what appears to be the first of two matches between the top teams in the Tri-Valley League this year.

Cate Goes 2-1 in SB Invitational Tournament

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.