Tag: Thacher

Cate Remains Unbeaten in TVL with Win over Thacher

Cate finished the season series with Thacher 2-0 after taking a 15-3 win in Ojai today. Cate remains unbeaten in league play and moves to 9-1 overall.

How it Happened:

Cate continued to receive dominant performances at the top line in both singles and doubles, with Ivy Huang holding down the singles (6-0, 6-1, 6-0) and Lisa Hasebe pairing with Elly Edwards to sweep in doubles (6-0, 6-0, 6-2).

Jade Wang continued her unbeaten streak at line 2 in league play, while Claire Tang also went undefeated on the day at line 3.

In doubles, Elsie Chamberlain and Edie Abbott went 2-1, while Gwendi Rogers also finished 2-1 on the day, partnering with Reyna Takahashi (1-0) and Riya Mitera (1-1).

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

Thacher gave us some great doubles competition again today, battling for the first poach move at net, which is something we still need to be working on daily. I was happy with the way the team performed, especially down a few starters today, but when there’s strawberry shortcake from Boccali’s waiting just down the road, it’s always pretty easy to count on the girls to take care of business!

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate plays next on Saturday at 2:30pm against Central Section opponent, Arroyo Grande. The team with then turn back to league play next week against Providence (Tuesday) and Villanova (Thursday).

Cate Moves to 4-0 with Pair of Dominant Performances

Cate girls’ tennis has now fully settled back into the tennis groove after the annual school “outings week.” Last week, they picked up a 9-0 win over visiting Santa Ynez High School and today have registered a 15-3 win over visiting Thacher School to open Tri-Valley League play.

How it Happened:

Cate was led today by senior captain Claire Bianchi, who swept her singles sets (6-1, 6-0, 6-3). Fellow senior captain Elsie Chamberlain partnered with junior Claire Tang to sweep their three sets of play in doubles (7-5, 7-6, 6-1).

Perhaps the most dominant performance of the day came from junior Reyna Takahashi, who beat the Thacher line #1 and #2 players without dropping a game, and seemingly without a sweat either (6-0, 6-0).

On the doubles side, sophomore Elly Edwards recorded a trio of 6-1 victories. In the first round, she partnered with junior Gwendi Rogers, and then in the following rounds with sophomore Chelsea Newlove.

Cate also received wins from their top three players, who filled different roles in this match: Jade Wang subbed in to defeat Thacher’s top two girls (6-0, 6-1), while Ivy Huang and Lisa Hasebe paired for a 6-1 victory at #1 doubles in the first round before being subbed out.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

Thacher brought a team that, although not loaded with tournament players, was steady in singles and aggressive in doubles. These are things we at Cate are always trying to do, so it made the match fun and productive, despite the score.

As for our girls today, we won a few tight sets in doubles after coming back from behind, and I could not be more impressed by the way Reyna took her opponents apart in the singles. She was great against Santa Ynez in that way, too, using her flatter cross-court drives to the corners to create space to finish points, without ever taking many big risks.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

The Rams take to the courts against Providence High School on Thursday at the Santa Barbara Municipal Courts in another TVL league match.

Cate Goes 2-0 on the Week, Closes in on Tri-Valley League Title

Cate girls’ tennis moves to 5-0 in league play (9-1 overall) with 17-1 wins over Villanova and Thacher. The team has now won 15-consecutive Tri-Valley League matches and looks set to claim the league title with just three matches remaining.

How it Happened

The Rams were led in both contests by freshman Ivy Huang, who is 11-0 in league play so far this season and dropped just 2 games across 5 sets this week. Frosh combo Jade Wang and Lisa Hasebe we’re similarly dominant at the top doubles line, going 3-0 and dropping just a single game.

Cate got singles sweeps from junior captain Claire Bianchi and freshman Elly Edwards today against Thacher. Bianchi has been a critical utility player for Cate in the last few years, darting back and forth between singles and doubles as-needed, while Edwards made her singles debut.

Another stand-out performance came from junior Elsie Chamberlain and freshman Chelsea Newlove, who combined for the doubles sweep in both matches this week. The pair are 8-0 when playing together.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

It’s a real luxury as a coach to have such a strong and versatile team. I keep asking players to try out different roles and everyone has been very willing to give it a go, which is a lot of fun.

I don’t think we’ve played the same lineup twice so far this season, but we’re starting to see some strong partnerships form and also seeing what potential different players have in the singles lineup. This type of strategic lineup configuration was critical to our CIF Championship last season, so it’s great to see so many potential options available to us again this year.

What’s Next for Cate Tennis?

The Rams play have league matches on Tuesday and Thursday next week, beginning with a home match against Foothill Tech and then an away match in Hope Ranch against Laguna Blanca.

Cate Defeats Thacher, Moves to 3-0

Cate Girls’ Tennis moves to 3-0 on the season (1-0 in Tri-Valley League Play) with a 17-1 win over Thacher School of Ojai.

How it happened

It was all Cate from start to finish, with the Rams dropping just a single set to the #3 singles player from Thacher. A total of 13 Cate players got involved, each recording at least one win on the day.

Sophomore Reyna Takahashi and junior Claire Bianchi led the line for Cate in singles play, each going 3-0 on the day, while freshman Ivy Huang and junior Elsie Chamberlain each added a win.

In doubles, Cate was utterly dominant, recording three 6-0 sets against the Thacher #1 team. Freshman Chelsea Newlove opened her Cate account by going 3-0 on the day in doubles, while sophomore Lisa Hasebe and freshman Elly Edwards did the same, each with various partners as the match progressed.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

It’s always good to see everyone able to get involved in the win. In addition to the usual suspects, we had strong performances from 6 first-year players, which bodes well for the future. We also got to try out some new doubles combinations, which I think is valuable information going forward.

What’s Next for Cate Tennis?

Cate plays at Ventura College this Thursday at 3:30pm against league opponent Foothill Tech.

Owls Run the TVL Gauntlet, Come Out with Chance at .500

Now in the final week of the season, Laguna Blanca boys’ tennis has improved to 5-6 overall, despite facing strong opponents in Cate and Thacher in the first few days back from a two-week spring break.

Laguna Blanca v. Thacher: 3-15 Loss

Laguna had just one practice leading into a tough league match against visiting Thacher, and paid for it dearly in the 3-15 loss. The Owls were unable to scratch against a strong Thacher doubles lineup, with just Noah Mitev/Enzo Vinoly able to force a close tie-break loss against the Thacher #3 team. In singles, both Mason Berg and Oliver Tande had their chances against the Thacher #1 and #2 opponents but were unable to convert, with the two plus Wyatt Burt only able to secure singles wins against the Thacher #3 player.

Laguna Blanca @ Dunn: 13-5 Win

The Owls shook off the Thacher defeat and regrouped for a quality win over the Dunn School in the Santa Ynez Valley. The win was spearheaded by doubles sweeps from Lucas Ayala/Keanu Christiansen and Noah Mitev/Enzo Vinoly.

In singles play, Mason Berg came close to victory over UTR 6.8-rated Richard Bertea, but would have to settle for a 2-1 record on the day. Oliver Tande also recorded 2 wins, with Wyatt Burt adding a win in the final round-of-play.

Laguna Blanca v. Cate: 5-13 Loss

In what was billed to be a brutally difficult day for the home-team, visiting Cate was unable to dominate the match in the way they had the previous season, en-route to their CIF D3 title.

Laguna fought gamely through out the match, starting with a huge win for freshman Oliver Tande against UTR 7.3-rated senior, Ethan Bloom. Both he and Mason Berg added singles wins over Cate #3, James He, but Nate Newlove from Cate managed to stem the bleeding with a 3-0 day at #2 singles.

In doubles play, Lucas Ayala and Keanu Christiansen were competitive in all three matches (3-6, 3-6, 7-6), including a tie-break win over the #3 team. Sophomores Enzo Vinoly and Noah Mitev struggled to find their footing in the early rounds, but rallied to take a 7-5 victory in the third round against the #3 team as well.

Laguna Blanca v. Bishop Diego: 15-3 Win

This was the most complete performance of the season for Laguna Blanca tennis, with the team having come out of the trials of the last week-and-a-half battle-hardened.

Both Oliver Tande and Mason Berg swept their singles matches, taking quality victories over freshman standout, Lucas Forry. In doubles, it was a clean sweep for the Owls, a first on the season. Sophomores Connor Murphy and Changzheng Yu battled through a tough tie-break win in the first round against the Bishop #3 team, before building nicely to 6-1 and 7-5 victories against the #2 and #1 teams (respectively).

What’s next for the Owls?

Laguna will close out the season with a TVL match against St. Bonaventure High School of Ventura, to be played at Furukawa Tennis Gardens in Hope Ranch, 3:30pm. With a win, the Owls would finish the season 6-6 overall, meeting the pre-season goal laid out for the mostly freshmen and sophomore team by coaching staff.

Laguna Blanca Enters Final Phase of Season 6-2 with a Chance of Playoffs Berth

The Owls have just two matches remaining in the Spring 2023 season, with Foothill Tech visiting Hope Ranch today and a rescheduled away match this coming Tuesday against Cate School.

In league play, the Owls are 3-2, with the top four teams in the Tri-Valley League receiving an auto-bid into the CIF Playoffs. However, the two remaining teams are some of the stronger squads in the TVL, meaning an upset win in one of those final two matches of the season will be necessary to pick up that auto-bid. Laguna is guaranteed a winning record on the season, and consequently, an at-large bid for a playoff wildcard spot should they fail to produce an upset today or next Tuesday.

Recent Match Recaps

Laguna Blanca v. Carpinteria: 9-9 (71-65) Win

Carpinteria High ceded the #3 doubles position, giving Laguna a 3-0 start to the match, which ended up being critical in the tie-break win. Carpinteria’s #1 singles player, Max Stone, was dominant in dropping just 1 game across three sets and Laguna was also unable to scratch against the #1 doubles line.

Davis Ohanian went 2-1 on the day in singles, while senior captains Aden Meisel and Kent Dunn each chipped in a win over the Carpinteria #2 singles player. In doubles, the pairings of Mason Berg/Robbie Dunn and Cody Busch-Weiss/Connor Murphy each picked up wins over the Carp High #2’s to bring the total to 9 set-wins. The Owls then nervously counted games within each set to reveal a win by a margin of just 6 games.

Laguna Blanca @ Thacher: 3-15 Loss

The Owls faced a very strong Thacher squad in a match that had very few close sets. One bright spot was a 12-10 tie-beak win from junior Mason Berg in his first singles match of the season, playing at the #3 position. Sophomore Davis Ohanian added a 6-2 win against the Thacher #3 in the final round of play, with the sole doubles set-win coming from seniors Aden Meisel and Cody Busch-Weiss against the Thacher #2 line.

Laguna Blanca v. Dunn: 14-4 Win

Twin brothers Kent and Robbie Dunn went 3-0 in singles play against the school that coincidentally bears their name. Davis Ohanian slotted into the doubles lineup for the first time on the season, pairing with Mason Berg for a blemishly sweep at #1 doubles. Freshmen Connor Murphy and Noah Mitev partnered to go 3-0 on the day as well, while Cody Busch-Weiss and Lucas Ayala finished 2-1 on the day.

Laguna Blanca v. Bishop Diego: 14-4 Win

The Owls nearly completed a sweep of the Bishop Diego singles lineup, with Davis Ohanian and Mason Berg dropping just 6 games between them in 6 sets-of-play. Kent Dunn lost a tight 5-7 set against the Bishop #1, but rallied to take a tie-break win in the final set to finish 2-1 on the day.

In doubles, Laguna was unable to crack the top Bishop Diego team, with two sets pushed to 5-7 scores. However, it was all W’s in the remaining 6 sets, with pairings Cody Busch-Weiss/Robbie Dunn, Connor Murphy/Noah Mitev, and Lucas Ayala/Changzheng Yu all finishing 2-1 on the day. Ayala and Yu were particularly notable, playing together for the first time and battling gamely for the Owls in three close sets (5-7, 7-5, 6-4).

Laguna Blanca @ St. Bonaventure: 13-5 Win

Laguna Blanca secured a winning record on the season with a 13-5 victory over short-handed St. Bonaventure, who conceded the #3 position in both singles and doubles.

The Owls got a sweep from new pairing Aden Meisel and Noah Mitev in doubles and cobbled together wins from Davis Ohanian, Mason Berg, and Kent Dunn in singles against the #2 and a win from Cody Busch-Weiss and Robbie Dunn against the #2 doubles team to create the comfortable winning margin.

What’s Next for the Owls?

In addition to the remaining TVL matches, Laguna will send 6 players to participate in the league doubles tournament, which begins this coming Monday at 1pm, with the Cate School hosting.

Cate Defeats Laguna, Thacher 14-4 in Tri-Valley League Play

Cate has moved to 7-1 on the season (6-1 in league play) after dominant second-round performances against Laguna Blanca and Thacher.

How it Happened:

Cate took a 14-4 win in Hope Ranch last Thursday on strength-in-depth. Senior Aminah Hill was unable to repeat her upset victory over Laguna sophomore Mina Yazadhiev, but all three Cate singles players made quick work of the Laguna #2 and #3 positions.

In doubles, Laguna took 8 sets out of 9, including an impressive sweep from #3’s Julianna Forry and Sophie Alijani (6-3, 6-3, 6-3). Emily May and Ella Change also swept on the day.

Earlier today, Cate recorded another 14-4 win, this time against the Toads from Thacher School playing on the Cate Mesa.

The win was spearheaded by a 2-0 day from Aminah Hill and Frances Davis in singles, while sophomore Alyna Takahashi moved into the doubles lineup to go 2-0 on the day.

In the second round, she partnered with junior Ellie Tunnell to defeat the Thacher #1 team, which was actually their top two singles players stacked into doubles. The successful partnership may prove useful tomorrow against visiting San Marcos High, a team that typically fields a strong singles lineup.

Cate has often had its most competitive and exciting match of the season against the large Santa Barbara public school. Despite San Marcos having nearly 10-times the student body, Cate had consistently held its own and sometimes defeated the top Santa Barbara County team, including as recently as 2019.

In that year, Cate went on to finish the season with a sweep of all three major Santa Barbara public schools en-route to a CIF D1 appearance. This year, Cate will be competing in CIF Division 3, with a strong performance in tomorrow’s match suggesting the likelihood of a deep playoff run in a few weeks time.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I have been delighted to see different players stepping up in each match. For example, Alyna and Ellie taking down that stacked Thacher doubles team. We also brought up four JV players today and they all came through with wins.

Kate Ragatz was particularly impressive today, taking down the Thacher #3 in a tight 7-5 set in what was her very first varsity match. That was the last match on-court and it would be easy for a freshman to let nerves play the deciding factor, but she took her opportunity to play varsity and ran with it!

Cate Routs Rival Thacher 17-1

In the battle of the west coast’s elite boarding schools, Cate Girls’ Tennis won handily, dropping just a single tie-break set.

How it happened

Cate came out firing in the first round-of-play, with quick wins on all courts.

In singles, senior Aminah Hill and sophomore Alyna Takahashi continued their strong play, notching 6-1, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 victories respectively.

Frances Davis, a sophomore transfer from France, made her season debut with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 showing at the #3 spot.

In doubles, Cate finished the day 9-0, with #2 and #3 doubles pairings Emily May/Ella Chang and Julianna Forry/Ellie Tunnell each going 3-0.

Cate #1’s Ashi Kamra/Colette Chang moved to 5-0 on the season with 6-1, 6-3 set wins before sophomores Sophie Alijani and Caroline Batchelder finished the line with a 6-3 win in the final round.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

Thacher was a bit short-handed today, but we always relish the chance to compete against them on their home turf. Per team tradition, we follow it up with a trip to Boccali’s for some pizza and their famous strawberry shortcake, so we are always motivated to perform well out in Ojai.

While everyone played well today, honestly, I’m most proud of the one set we lost. More specifically, I’m proud of Nikita Nautiyal, who battled back from 1-4 down in the final match of the day to force a tie-breaker.

It would have been easy to let that one slip away once she got down, but she chose to work even harder to get back into the match instead. The support from her teammates through the end of the match was phenomenal as well.

These are the sorts of things that let a coach know the team is on the right track. Although we lost an early-season match to Foothill Tech, we still have ambition to reclaim the Tri-Valley League Title and we’re also hoping to make a deep playoff run this year in CIF Division 3.

What’s next for Cate?

Cate plays next on Tuesday, October 5th against St Bonaventure before the big rematch with last year’s league champions in Foothill Tech. This time, the match will be at Cate (October 7th) and the girls will be ready!

Cate Moves to 7-0 with Second Win Over Rival Thacher in Ojai

Cate Girls’ Tennis won a 10-8 contest over Thacher in Ojai today in what was a battle between the top two schools in the Tri-Valley League.

After defeating Thacher 13-5 earlier in the season, Cate featured a very different lineup in this match, and what is likely for tomorrow’s match against San Marcos.

Carol Cai and Ashi Kamra went 3-0 at #2 doubles while first-year varsity players Julianna Forry and Maesa Vongkusolkit went 2-1, with their lone loss coming in a tie-break set against the top Thacher pair on the day.

In singles, Grace Fuss recorded three 6-0 victories, while the key victory belonged to freshman Ellie Tunnell. Tunnell, playing at #2 singles for the first time, gutted out an 8-6 tie-break win in the second round that turned out to be critical to the overall victory.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

Ellie was awesome today. She’s the only freshman that made varsity and yet here she is picking up a big win for us in a tight match against our league rivals.

The young players deserve a lot of credit for our success this season, with Julianna and Maesa also stepping up for two wins today.

Grace and Carol are our automatic six sets but they’re also our senior captains. It’s good to know we’ve got young guns stepping up to the plate because we’re going to have big shoes to fill next season.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate plays again tomorrow at 3pm on Cate Mesa for a chance to finally lay claim to the title “best team in Santa Barbara County.” Their opponent, San Marcos High, has narrowly defeated them each of the last four seasons.

Cate Wins Battle of Undefeated Tri-Valley Teams 13-5

In a match between two undefeated teams, only one team can come out the other end with their streak intact. In today’s match, Cate girls’ tennis moved to 4-0 on the season with a victory over previously undefeated Thacher (6-1).

Grace Fuss led the charge, winning all three of her sets on the day without dropping a game. Fuss has now won 54 of 55 games en-route to a 9-0 mark on the season.
Aminah Hill played her best tennis to take impressive wins over Thacher’s top two players, before receiving a default win in the final round-of-play.

In doubles, Cate’s top duo dropped just two games across three sets. Carol Cai and Fritze Mayer, like Fuss, move to 9-0 on the season at the #1 position. Mayer is also 3-0 in singles play for a 12-0 mark at this stage of her junior season.

Sophomores Julianna Forry and Maesa Vongkusolkit continue to impress at #3 doubles, taking two of three sets (3-6, 6-2, 6-1) against a tough Thacher doubles lineup.
Cate has now won 37 consecutive Tri-Valley League matches, dating back to October of 2014.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments

This was our most complete match of the season. We were firing on all cylinders on every court throughout the day. Our doubles teams are starting to execute the strategies we’ve been practicing more and more seamlessly.

In singles, I thought Aminah reached another level with her mental toughness. She totally impressed me today and the scary part is, I firmly believe she’s just starting to tap into her potential as a competitive tennis player.

On the other end of things, Grace has been absolutely devastating this season. Her game really picked up last season and she’s carried that aggressive, tenacious baseline striking into this season nicely. She has blossomed into one of just three truly dominant singles players I’ve had the pleasure of coaching at Cate across 11 seasons.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate plays again on Thursday against St. Bonaventure High School at 3:45pm. The match will take place at Ventura College.