Tag: San Marcos

Visiting Rams take down Royals 14-4

Care Girls’ Tennis moved to 2-0 on the season today with a 14-4 win.

Playing a Channel League opponent for the second time in a week, Cate took a 6-0 lead in the first round against home team San Marcos High School.

How it Happened:

Cate sophomore Ivy Huang defeated SM senior Kate Selby in what was one of the best matches of the day. The two traded leads until Selby found herself at 5-4 and serving for the match. Huang then found another gear, reducing errors and playing smart points to take the final three games.

Elsewhere, Lisa Hasebe and Chelsea Newlove moved their singles line #1 partnership to 4-0 with a 6-0 win. Newlove then paired with junior Edie Abbott for two more wins, while Hasebe took the rest of the day off.

Junior Reyna Takahashi and sophomore Jade Wang both finished 2-1 on the day and junior Claire Tang subbed in for Huang to pick up a pair of wins at the line #1 singles position.

Sophomore Elly Edwards and junior Gwendi Rogers came back from 1-5 down to rattle off six consecutive games in the first round at line #2. The duo followed that win up with a convincing 6-1 victory in the second.

Sophomore JV call-ups Josie Goldhirsh and Riya Mitera saw their first action of the season, rallying to a 6-4 win at doubles line #3 after falling behind early in the set.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

It was great to see all 12 varsity girls in action today, along with Josie and Riya, who we will be calling up from JV quite a bit this season. As was the case last year, we have a lot of depth at both the singles and doubles positions. We’re working out how all the pieces are going to fit together in the best way, and San Marcos presented a great mix of opponents to test some things out. That team looks to have some pieces to develop as the year moves along, too.

What’s Next for Cate Tennis?

Cate now heads off to our annual Outings Week, which means a break from tennis. We’ll be back in action against Santa Ynez on September 11th on Cate Mesa at 3pm.

Rams too Much for Royals in 14-4 Win

Cate girls’ tennis (15-1) wrapped up regular season play today with a 14-4 win over visiting San Marcos High School (10-5). The Rams have not lost to any CIF Southern Section opponent this season, with their lone defeat coming at the hands of Rancho Bernardo High School from the San Diego Section.

How it happened

Cate continued to see dominant play from singles starters Ivy Huang, Reyna Takahashi, and Claire Bianchi. The trio won their first round matches against their San Marcos counterparts 6-1, 6-0, 6-0 (respectively). Sophomore Claire Tang took over for Huang, winning her remaining two sets 6-0, 6-2.

In doubles play, all three Cate teams competed well but were unable to get past SMHS’s top team, recent Channel League runners-up, Kate Selby and Sydney Posch. However, Colette Chang/Elly Edwards and Elsie Chamberlain/Chelsea Newlove both took wins over the 3rd-place Channel League doubles team of Ava Vasquez and Hattie Valdez-Lindgren.

Lisa Hasebe and Jade Wang went 2-1 on the day for Cate, in preparation for their Tri-Valley League doubles championship match tomorrow at 3:30pm. Similarly, it was a preparation day for singles #1-seed Ivy Huang, who will try to be the second-consecutive Cate School freshman to win the TVL singles championship (Lisa Hasebe, 2023).

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already managed to squeeze 16 matches into a season that started only 8 weeks ago, especially with a 10-day gap near the beginning for our school’s “Outings Week.” In this time, our girls have grown significantly in their capabilities as tennis players, and their confidence, not only as defending CIF champions, but as 2024 CIF championship contenders.

The progress we’ve made as individuals and as a team was on full display today, as our doubles teams moved fluidly together throughout the matches and our singles players held down their end with consistent, heady play. We’ve also had great leadership from our team captains, especially our lone senior, Colette Chang, who played her last regular season match in a Cate uniform today.

CIF just released its 3rd rankings update and placed us at #51 of 373 girls’ tennis programs throughout the Southern Section. At that rate, we’re likely to be a strong CIF D2 team come playoff time. With two weeks left to train before our first playoff match and the gains coming quickly, I’m excited to see what this team can do in post-season play!

Cate Finishes Regular Season 8-2, 7-1 in League

Cate Girls’ Tennis split a pair of matches on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, dropping a 14-4 decision against San Marcos before rallying to a 17-1 victory over St. Bonaventure on Senior Day.

Cate played solidly in the first round against 14-0 San Marcos High School, with the match hanging at 2-3 with a tie-breaker under way at #3 doubles. In the end, the partnership of Julianna Forry and Ellie Tunnell wasn’t quite enough to overcome a stacked #3 San Marcos team, dropping the tie-breaker 6-8.

The trend of closer sets going in San Marcos’ favor continued in the remaining two rounds, with Cate dropping 4 more sets that went 4-6 or 5-7, managing to only snag two more set-wins (both in the second round). The top performer on the day was senior captain Aminah Hill, who picked up two wins and played a solid 3-6 set against Natasha Gill, the top San Marcos player.

The St. Bonaventure match was a different affair altogether, with a total of 16 Cate students (including four JV players) participating in the 17-1 victory. Junior Ellie Tunnell went 3-0 on the day, as did sophomore Sophie Alijani, as the only two Cate students to play all three rounds.

Senior captains Aminah Hill and Emily May won their doubles matches 6-0, 6-0, while senior Ashi Kamra took Hill’s place at #1 singles and went 6-1, 6-1 on the day. The fourth Cate senior, Julianna Forry, won her lone set on the day playing at #2 doubles with Alijani by a 6-2 score.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

The St. Bonny match was a real joy to participate in, with so many parents around for parents’ weekend and so many of our girls able to be involved in the match. It’s always fun to switch up the lineup, and the truth is, the way we practice and learn cohesive strategy (particularly in doubles), the new roles tend to come easily to the girls. I’m also happy to see that our top JV girls have improved this season and hopefully one or two of them will reach the next level and join us on varsity next season.

As far as the San Marcos match goes, I feel that match was just what we needed as we turn our attention towards the high level competition of individuals and team playoffs. San Marcos the #5-seeded team in D2, so I see that team as equivalent to the best we could potentially face in our D3 playoffs next week.

I have seen time and time again at Cate that when these girls are challenged and take a tough loss, they take the experience well and are better the next time. For example, we turned a 5-13 loss against Foothill Tech earlier this season into an 11-7 win just a few weeks later.

Going farther back, we moved from D4 to D2 in 2014 after a CIF QF appearance, and struggled with the higher level in the playoffs the following season. However, in 2016 and 2017 we rallied, reaching the CIF D2 QF’s and earning our spot amongst the top teams in California in D1 for 2018-2020.

As I try to tell my teams every year, the latin root of the word competition means “to seek together.” This means the goal of competition is to push your opponent to their best and have them do the same for you, which results in everyone rising to their full potential. When you take this approach, it’s hard to be disappointed in a hard-fought loss like our match against San Marcos, because we earned ourselves access to that higher potential level for the future.

What’s next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate fields two singles players and two doubles teams in the Tri-Valley League Individuals Tournament today at Thacher School. Aminah Hill and Alyna Takahashi enter the draw as #3 and #4 seeds, respectively. In doubles Emily May/Ella Chang are the #2 seeds, while Ashi Kamra/Colette Chang enter the draw at #3.

Cate Drops Close San Marcos Match, Rebounds in Malibu

IMG_1616After 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. Continue reading “Cate Drops Close San Marcos Match, Rebounds in Malibu”