Tag: TVL Individuals

Cate Girls Sweep TVL Singles and Doubles Titles

After two days of Tri-Valley League Tournament match-play, Cate has come out with the league individuals titles in both singles and doubles, punctuating their clean sweep of TVL dual-match play.

Ivy Huang became the second-consecutive Cate freshman to win the singles league title, following in teammate Lisa Hasebe’s footsteps. Huang failed to drop a single game in her quarterfinal and semifinal matches, but was made to work for the title by Laguna Blanca senior Caroline Kenny. Kenny came into the tournament the #2-seed, by virtue of her 17-4 league record (with all 4 losses coming against Cate opponents).

The first set of the singles final was fairly even in the early-going, with Huang separating herself from Kenny through effective use of change-of-pace and ball-height. Kenny re-grouped after losing the first set 6-3 to take a 3-1 lead in the second set, using her powerful ground-game to put Huang on the back foot. Huang countered with a burst of intensity, that saw her draw the match even at 3-3, and then pull a head, finally taking the second set 6-4.

In doubles, last year’s TVL singles champion Lisa Hasebe paired with freshman standout Jade Wang to win in dominant fashion. While there were many close games, the foothill team of seniors Julia Geib and Vivian Ryan were unable to overcome strong play from Hasebe and Wang in the crucial game-points. The Cate pair eventually won the match 6-3, 6-2 for the TVL Doubles League Championship.

In the singles match for 3rd place, Laguna Blanca freshman Hali Wight took a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Villanova sophomore Amanda Poon.

The doubles 3rd place match was won convincingly (6-1, 6-3) by Cate pairing Colette Chang and Reyna Takahashi, who had finished runner-up in 2023. The pair were a key part of Cate’s CIF D3 Championship run and will look to take this momentum into the 2024 CIF team playoffs.

Cate now awaits playoff division placement, before beginning playoff match-play on Wednesday, November 6th. Huang, Hasebe, and Wang with then compete in the CIF Regional Individuals event hosted by Cate and Carpinteria High on Monday, November 25th.

Cate Girls Dominate TVL Individuals Tournament

Cate claimed the top two singles positions in TVL Individuals, while all six Cate players in the tournament achieved first-team all-league honors.

Singles Play

It was a battle between two undefeated Cate players for the Tri-Valley League Singles Title. Alyna Takahashi came in as the #1 seed, boasting a 16-0 league record. The senior was looking to go one step farther after finishing runner-up in last year’s tournament. It was not to be though, as freshman Lisa Hasebe (now 21-0 in league singles play) brought her highest level to the all-Cate final.

Hasebe jumped to a 3-0 lead early, although the points themselves were anything but uneven. Both players went deep into the rallies, pushing each other from corner to corner and probing for weak points. Takahashi regrouped after the tough start, eventually turning the first set to her advantage when she took a 5-4 lead with multiple stinging blows crosscourt from the forehand side to Hasebe’s backhand.

Again though, the momentum shifted as the freshman blended her own aggressive play with a mix of heavy topspin balls and drop-shots. Hasebe not only took the first set (7-5), but pushed on to gain a 4-1 lead in the second set. Again, Takahashi grinded her way back into the match with some big serving this time and then a break as Hasebe suddenly became a bit more tentative. With the Hasebe now leading just 5-4, the two traded points on Hasebe’s serve until the standout freshman closed out the match 6-4 in the second set.

Doubles Play

Cate was simultaneously in action on the doubles end of the tournament, with junior/freshman combo Colette Chang/Reyna Takahashi taking on the defending champions from Foothill Tech, junior/senior combo Julia Geib/Lola Tennison. Chang and Takahashi are a much newer combo, having only played 5 matches total together after injury curtailed the majority of both of their 2023 seasons.

Despite the new partnership, Chang and Takahashi battled gamely, pushing to an early 3-2 lead against Geib and Tennison, whose TVL unbeaten-streak goes back to the 2021 season. The momentum shifted with a few double faults from the Cate team at crucial moments, and the Foothill team was able to turn the first set around for a 6-4 win. The second set was much the same, with Chang and Takahashi on the attack, but unable to get a significant edge. Foothill pulled away in the end, taking the last 3 games of the second set for a 6-3 victory.

Cate’s #2 doubles team, seniors Sophie Alijani and Frances Davis met a similar fate in the semifinal round, losing 3-6, 3-6 to Foothill, but had a much better result in the battle for 3rd place and the last first-team all-league spot. Alijani and Davis faced Laguna Blanca’s top doubles duo, seniors Grace Trautwein and Lucia Camp. The Cate seniors came out on top with a 6-2, 6-1 showing.

What’s next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate will begin its attempt to unify the CIF D3 titles, with Cate’s boys’ team having won the championship in spring of 2023. The unbeaten girls’ team will begin their run on November 1st, likely at home due to their position as the #1-seeded team in the tournament. Subsequent matches will be November 3rd, 6th, 8th, and 10th, assuming the team remains undefeated to the end of CIF Playoffs.

Laguna Doubles Teams Finish 3rd and 4th in TVL League Individuals

After coming in with the #1 and #4 seeds in the doubles draw of the Tri-Valley League Individuals tournament, the Owls managed to snag third and fourth this week to end the 2021 season.

TVL Individuals, Early Rounds

Laguna Blanca School fielded the 11-1 senior doubles team of Ryan Purkait and Nic Richmond as the #1 seed in the tournament. As such, they were the last doubles team to take the courts on what was an unusually mild May day in Ojai, where Villanova played host.

Before Purkait and Richmond got to start their tournament, freshman/junior combo Keanu Nakamura/Ben Rodgers opened play as the #4 seed (5-1 in league play). Their seeding resulted in a very tough first-round match-up against Cate #3 singles player Will Vanica and freshman standout doubles player Ethan Bloom.

The fourth-seeded Owls team came through with a decisive 6-4, 6-3 victory over the Cate team, leading the entire match. This set up a semifinal clash with the only undefeated team in the draw, Foothill Tech’s #1 doubles team. Meanwhile, Laguna Blanca’s singles entrants Kai Suzuki and Aden Meisel fought gamely in the play-in round, but were unable to defeat their opponents in 8-game pro-sets.

Meisel got off to a rough start, dropping three games quickly, before changing strategies and taking four of the next nine games to lose 4-8. Suzuki played very well in the early-going, taking a 6-3 lead over Foothill Tech’s James Sokoloski, but the Laguna junior struggled to close the match out and faded to a 6-8 loss.

TVL Individuals, Later Rounds

Purkait and Richmond won their quarterfinal match against the Villanova #1 doubles team 6-4, 6-4, but looked far from their dominant regular-season best. This manifested itself again in their semifinal match against #3-seeded Cate seniors Lucian Prinz and Michael Armstrong, who they had defeated early in the season.

After taking a 5-2 lead in the first set, the Owls senior duo struggled with execution, seeing the Cate team recover for a 7-5 win and go up 5-2 in the second. Purkait and Richmond rallied to 4-5, but could not force the third set from Prinz and Armstrong, who closed the match out with a hold-of-serve.

Nakamura and Rodgers faced a stiff challenge from the top Foothill Tech team, who would go on to become this year’s league champions with a win over Prinz/Armstrong. The team of Pascal Hayward and Eesh Manwani played a very loud and aggressive style, and though the Laguna boys pushed Hayward and Manwani with many excellent points, they eventually fell 6-4, 6-3.

TVL Individuals, Laguna v. Laguna

The proceedings of Day One of the Tri-Valley League Individuals Tournament led to a matchup between the two Laguna teams for 3rd place in league and the final All-League First-Team designation.

Played at Furukawa Tennis Gardens on the Laguna Blanca campus, 3rd place match saw a resurgence from Nic Richmond and Ryan Purkait, who reversed a loss from earlier in the week to their younger teammates in practice. The seniors regained their best tennis to defeat Rodgers and Nakamura by a final score of 6-4, 6-1.

The result is Richmond and Purkait picking up All-League First-Team honors for the first time as they move on to college, while Rodgers and Nakamura get their first All-League Second-Team honors. Certainly the younger duo will be in the mix for future Tri-Valley League honors.

Cate Girls Take TVL Doubles Title

Senior Fritze Mayer and junior Emily May defeated the English sisters of Foothill Tech 6-3, 6-0 at the Cate School to land their first league title.

Mayer and May close the season 16-0 and continue a Cate streak of four consecutive Tri-Valley League doubles titles.

While the singles league title remains elusive for the Servons, Cate’s #1 singles player Aminah Hill was absolutely devastating in her 6-0, 6-0 victory today to take third place and earn herself All-League First-Team honors.

Senior Yuki Kobayashi and junior Ashi Kamra recovered from a tough tie-break loss in the first set to take third place in the league doubles draw (6-7, 6-0, 10-3). Kamra earned TVL All-League First -Team honors last season with Mayer, while this is Kobayashi’s first time receiving All-League First-Team honors.

The three victories today end Cate’s COVID-shortened season on a high note and bring momentum for the team going into the 2021 fall season in just a few short months.

Cate’s Fuss, Cai Power to TVL Title Match

The Cate School played host, today, to the annual Tri-Valley League Individuals Tournament. It was mixed fortunes for the five schools in the league, with four schools sharing the finals positions, as Cate’s top-2 eschewed singles league glory for a shot at a deep run in CIF Individuals.

In singles, the top two seeds each dominated their opponents with straight-set wins. Top-seed Helena Insua of St. Bonaventure won her quarterfinal round 6-0, 6-0 and followed that up with a 6-0, 6-1 win over #3-seed Jacqueline Kong (Thacher) 6-0, 6-1. 

Insua will face Natalie Cheng (Thacher) in the singles final, after Cheng took both of her matches on the day without dropping a single game. The third place singles match will take place between Yuki Kobayashi (Cate) and Jacqueline Kong.

In doubles, top-seeded Grace Fuss and Carol Cai (Cate) cruised to 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1 victories. The team is comprised of the top-two singles players in the TVL this season, with the intention of the pair going deep into CIF Individuals.

On the other side of the draw, #2-seeded Fritze Mayer and Ashi Kamra, also of Cate, were narrowly defeated by last year’s third place team of Alyssa McClain and Jolie Seemayer (Foothill Tech). The Foothill Tech team took the match 7-6, 4-6, 10-3 to book their place in the finals against Fuss and Cai.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

On it’s face, today was maybe not the dominant display you’d expect for our team. It’s true that we haven’t lost a league match since 2014, but our league has some very solid players and we made some strategic decisions going into the tournament.

Grace and Carol were just a point or two away from winning their third CIF Regionals match as a doubles team last year, and we felt they have the chance to really do some damage as a doubles team.

That meant Fritze wouldn’t get to play with her normal partner Carol in individuals, but I think Ashi has really stepped up her game this year and they very nearly pulled off the win. That match between our girls and the Foothill Tech girls was a joy to watch. I can’t even be disappointed about the loss because I saw Fritze and Ashi reach their highest level in that match. On our team, that’s the big win and I’m very proud of their performance against a worthy opponent.

In singles, Yuki has made big strides this season and she took a nice win in the quarterfinals. Though she lost in the semifinal, she came off the court smiling and happy with her performance, and she’s still got a chance to take third place in league. 

Mia Foster also got the opportunity to lay it on the line in singles. As a senior who’s spent most of her career playing doubles, I thought she played great, although it didn’t go her way.

In short, every participant from our team got something good out of the tournament today, and some very deserving players from other teams got through and will surely represent our league well in CIF Individuals.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

All TVL Finals and 3rd-Place matches will take place at the Cate School at 2:30pm on Thursday, October 31st. Following the completion of league individuals, Cate will play in the first round of the CIF D1 Team Playoffs the following Wednesday.