Tag: Villanova

Cate Adds Trio of Wins, Now 12-1 on the Season

Cate took a 17-1 victory in Ojai today against Villanova Prep, marking the 3rd win in less than a week and 12th win of the season.

Cate was led by singles sweeps from Jade Wang and Reyna Takahashi, who dropped just 5 games total across their 6 sets-of-play. Ivy Huang added 2 sets before substituting out for the final round.

In doubles, Lisa Hasebe and Chelsea Newlove continued their unbeaten streak in league play with a 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 line at #1 singles. Pairings Claire Bianchi/Claire Tang and Elsie Chamberlain/Edie Abbott also swept in doubles, with the entire doubles unit dropping just 2 games across 9 sets.

On Tuesday, Cate defeated Providence High School 15-3 in another TVL league match, going 8-1 in singles and 7-2 in doubles play. The match featured a number of newer faces to the team, with Riya Mitera/Josie Goldhirsh getting the call-up from JV and going 2-1 on the day as starters. Similarly, Lotte Nicholas and Adele Tan joined the team from JV, substituting in for 2 doubles set-wins.

Going back further to last weekend, Cate Girls’ Tennis ventured 2hrs north to play Arroyo Grande High School. The match was played using the Central Section format, with the Rams taking a 7-2 victory.

Cate was led by junior Lisa Hasebe, who partnered with Ivy Huang at #1 doubles for an 8-4 win, before leading the charge in singles with a 6-0, 6-4 victory.

Other notable performances came from sophomore Chelsea Newlove and senior Elsie Chamberlain, who earned wins at line #3 and #4 singles (respectively), both playing singles for the first time in 2025 dual match-play.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

We’ve been dealing with some sickness and injury this last week, but the girls have rallied around each other and done an excellent job of filling gaps in the lineup. It’s great to be able to call on doubles players to play some singles and also for some eager JV players to have the opportunity to play at the next level.

This is a team that seems ready to handle whatever gets thrown at it, which increases my confidence in our prospects for this year’s CIF Playoffs. It’s pretty rare for any team to make it through that part of the season without something going awry, so it’s great to know we have a host of role-players we can count on to step up when called upon.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

The Rams return to action next week on Thursday at 3:30pm, when they will try to defend home-court in front of an exuberant crowd on family week. The match, against Laguna Blanca, is an opportunity for Cate to complete its 3rd consecutive unbeaten Tri-Valley League season and league title.

Cate Rips into SB Invitational Semis with Dominant Display

Cate girls’ tennis moved to 6-0 on the season with a 6-0 victory in the first round of this year’s Santa Barbara Invitational Tournament.

The win marks the second time in 2 years that Cate has defeated San Dieguito (Encinitas) in the invitational, with Bay Area powerhouse Monta Vista high school looming next in the semifinals.

How it Happened:

Cate was led by dominant 6-0, 6-0 performances from sophomores Ivy Huang and Jade Wang in singles. Junior Reyna Takahashi rallied from 2-3 down in the first, rattling off 10 of the next 11 games to secure the singles sweep.

In doubles, it was all Cate as well, with decisive wins from Elly Edwards/Elsie Chamberlain and Claire Bianchi/Claire Tang. At line 1, the match was much more competitive, but junior/sophomore combo Lisa Hasebe and Chelsea Newlove eventually prevailed in straight sets (6-4, 6-4).

The match follows a 17-1 TVL league win over Villanova Prep School earlier in the week and a stretch of lopsided victories that stretches all the way back to August, when Cate narrowly defeated Dos Pueblos High School to start the season.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

We expect our upcoming match against Monta Vista to be a significant step up in competition, but it’s important not to lose sight of what we’ve been able to accomplish already in this season. You don’t get convincing wins like we had today against San Dieguito without a lot of effort and time spent training both at school and over the summer.

I want to applaud my girls on the way they performed today. They asserted themselves early and often in the matches, while striking the tough balance between competitive and collegial. We are relishing the matchups we’re sure to get tomorrow. The next few rounds of the tournament are opportunities to continue competing against top teams from other parts of the state, with an eye towards our goal of bringing home another CIF banner to Cate in November.

What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate will host Monta Vista in a semifinal match tomorrow morning at 8:30am, followed by either a championship or 3rd Place match at noon (also at Cate).

Cate Closes out League Play with 18-0 Win over Villanova

The Rams move to 13-1 overall with a blemish-less victory over visiting Villanova Prep. The 18-0 win completes Cate’s 8-0 sweep of league play, during which the defending CIF D3 Champions never lost more than 2 sets in any match.

How it Happened

Cate got singles sweeps from Reyna Takahashi and Colette Chang, who normally anchor the singles lineup. Chang has played #1 doubles for most of the last three seasons now at Cate, becoming a specialist, but took the opportunity today to show that she has considerable singles ability as well.

Cate’s Claire Tang subbed in for #1 player Ivy Huang after her first round victory, claiming two wins for herself. Tang had gone 2-1 against Villanova earlier this season, and today managed to take a 6-3 victory over the player who had defeated her previously.

In doubles play, freshmen Elly Edwards and Chelsea Newlove paired for a trio of 6-0 wins in their first match together. Junior combo Claire Bianchi and Elsie Chamberlain played together for the first time this season as well, earning 6-2, 6-0 set-wins before giving way to sophomores Gwendi Rogers and Edie Abbott, who won the final round 6-1.

Finally, singles players Lisa Hasebe and Jade Wang partnered in doubles, winning two rounds comfortably, before JV call-up Lotte Nicholas partnered with Wang to take her first varsity win in the final round.

What’s next for Cate Tennis?

The Tri-Valley League Individuals Tournament begins on Tuesday, October 22nd at 1pm. The event will be hosted by Cate, with the final rounds to be played on Thursday, October 24th. Between TVL Individuals play, Cate will host a non-league match against a long-time rival in San Marcos High School.

During the last great period of Cate Girls’ Tennis history (2015-2019), San Marcos narrowly defeated the Rams 4 times, before finally succumbing in 2019. During that 5-year period, Cate lost only those 4 matches, going a stellar 58-4 during regular season play, en-route to 2 CIF D2 Quarterfinals appearances and a further 3 D1 playoff appearances.

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.

Laguna Ends First Half of Season 3-4 Overall

The Owls entered spring break off the back of an 8-1 win at Santa Maria High School, led by Mason Berg and Oliver Tande at #1 doubles and Keanu Christiansen debuting at #1 singles.

The win broke a two-match slide, with Laguna suffering a tough 6-12 loss with playoffs implications against Villanova Prep. The match may have just come too early in the season, as the Owls dropped a number of 4-6 and 5-7 sets against the more experienced team from Ojai.

Prior to that match, Laguna faced Foothill Tech, a team with no weakness across their lineup, and the likely heir to Cate’s title as league champions. A bright spot in the match was senior Mason Berg’s 6-3 victory over Foothill #2 player, fellow senior James Sokoloski.

The post-spring break Tri-Valley League matches come fast and furious, with 5 scheduled in the final two weeks of the season, with the Owls looking to finish strong to secure the season goal of a .500 overall win/loss record.

Cate Finishes Regular Season Play Undefeated, Seeded #4 in CIF

Cate girls’ tennis has finished regular season play this week with a trio of wins, moving to a perfect 12-0 on the season. After hosting cross-town rival Carpinteria High School on Monday (16-2 win), Cate was on the road against Royal High School (16-2 win) on Tuesday and then finished TVL play at Villanova High School in Ojai (18-0 win).

How it happened:

Senior team captain, Alyna Takahashi, went 8-0 at singles #1 for Cate, pushing her season record to 14-0 in league play and 24-1 overall. Takahashi will enter next week’s TVL Individuals tournament as the top seed, after finishing runner-up in the tournament last year.

Lisa Hasebe went 7-0 at singles #2, extending a 28-set singles win-streak that traces back to the second match of the season. The freshman is 30-1 in singles and 2-1 in doubles. Hasebe will enter next week’s TVL Individuals tournament as the #2-seeded player after going a perfect 19-0 in league singles play.

Reyna Takahashi had a late start to the season due to injury, but has wasted no time having an impact in both singles and doubles. The freshman registered 5 wins in doubles and 2 in singles, going 7-0 this week, and moving her season tally to 13-1 in singles and 10-2 in doubles. The younger Takahashi sister will partner with Colette Chang as one of the top-seeded doubles team in TVL Individuals.

Colette Chang, a two-time all-league doubles player, made her season debut on Thursday after a successful recovery from injury. The junior is 3-0 on the season and will partner with Reyna Takahashi for a third attempt at the TVL Doubles league title.

Frances Davis went 8-0 in doubles play this week, partnering with Reyna Takahashi against Carpinteria, before returning to usual partner Sophie Alijani in the final two matches of the season. The Cate senior moves to 25-3 overall in doubles play this season, and a flawless 13-0 when partnered with Alijani.

Senior team captain, Sophie Alijani, went 9-0 playing with Frances Davis and her sister Pyper Davis this week. Alijani is the winningest Cate player in the doubles lineup, achieving a 29-5 overall record this season. Alijani and Davis will try to continue their 13-set win-streak next week as one of the top-seeded teams in TVL Individuals.

After a 2-7 start to the season, sophomore Pyper Davis has been on an absolute tear in recent weeks. The younger Davis went 4-0 in doubles and 2-0 in singles this week and has now won 17 consecutive matches (9-0 singles, 8-0 doubles) since that early rough patch.

Claire Bianchi, the unofficial utility player of the team, went 6-0 in singles this week, and 13-4 overall this season. The sophomore has played a mix of singles and doubles this season, partnering with 5 different teammates for a 10-6 mark in doubles.

Elsie Chamberlain entered the season as a singles specialist, but recorded a 7-1 showing in doubles in this finals week. This caps a 22-9 overall record in doubles this season, partnering mostly with senior Caroline Batchelder.

Completing her first full season as a varsity starter, senior Caroline Batchelder has undoubtedly come into her own in recent weeks, including a 7-1 mark this week with Chamberlain. Batchelder posted a 23-12 overall record at the #3 doubles position for Cate.

The freshman trio of Gwendi Rogers, Claire Tang, and Sophie Blank combined for 4 set-wins this week, adding to 6 set-wins in earlier matches this season. The trio will undoubtedly take on an increasingly important role for the team in their sophomore season, with 4 starters set to graduate at the end of the year.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

Amongst many moments worth highlighting this week, Claire Bianchi’s battle back from down 3-5 against the Carpinteria #2 player comes to mind. That’s the sort of tenacious, never-say-die effort we need to take into the playoffs, where matches are likely to be more competitive. It was also awesome to see Colette Chang finally back in the lineup after missing the entire season until now, due to injury. She has worked so diligently to get back and now she gets the reward of finishing the regular season undefeated (3-0)!

Speaking of undefeated, I am beyond proud of this team for going undefeated all season, which is only the second time we’ve accomplished that in my 15-year tenure at Cate. The early season was fraught with injury and some illness as well, but the girls banded together to fill the gaps whenever someone went down. The collective strength of this team is unreal!

I’ve also seen so much growth in the level of tennis across both our singles and doubles lineup. There is a clear upward trend across the season in match results, but also in confidence of our abilities as a team. That will have a huge impact on our attempt to hunt down a CIF D3 title in the coming weeks.

What’s next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?

Cate will have a week off from dual-matches, with TVL Individuals taking the stage on Tuesday, October 24th. Cate will host the event, to begin at 2pm, with the finals likely to follow on Thursday, October 26th.

Cate Girls Tennis Rams Through Two More Tri-Valley League Opponents

Cate moves to 7-0 on the season with wins over visiting Villanova Prep and Providence. Having now played everyone in league once, Cate is nearly assured the top spot in the league and continues to be ranked 5th in CIF Division 3 polling.

Cate v. Villanova: 17-1 Win

Cate won handily despite playing without senior captain Alyna Takahashi, who is unbeaten in league so far this season. Lisa Hasebe, also unbeaten, moved into the #1 spot in the lineup and duly produced a 6-0 win against the Villanova senior Monica Munoz before subbing out. Fellow freshman Reyna Takahashi finished the day 3-0 without dropping a single game, while sophomore Pyper Davis had a similar 3-0 sweep in her singles season debut.

In doubles, freshman Sophie Blank partnered with junior JV player Addie Bracher to record a 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 result. The pair were incredibly consistent and worked well together in their first outing together. Frances Davis paired with Sophie Alijani for a 6-0 win at #1 before Alijani was replaced by freshman Claire Tang, making her season debut and going 2-0. Senior Caroline Batchelder partnered with sophomore Claire Bianchi for a 7-5 set-win in the first round, before pairing with sophomore Elsie Chamberlain for 6-2 and 6-0 wins.

Cate v. Providence: 15-3 Win

Caroline Batchelder and Elsie Chamberlain picked up where they left off in the previous match, partnering for 7-5, 6-0, 6-0 set-wins and moving to 8-3 on the season. The pair over-turned a 2-6 loss to Providence #1’s Aza Elwood and Amber Regan from a few weeks prior, showing their progression. Senior Frances Davis continued to thrive with multiple partners, playing with Reyna Takahashi, Sophie Blank, and Ani Van Lynde for three set-wins, dropping just 1 game. Sophie Alijani and Pyper Davis partnered for the second time this season, going 2-0 before Claire Tang replaced Davis in the third set for another win.

In singles play, Lisa Hasebe turned in another 6-0 win at the #1 position before subbing out. Hasebe is now 13-1 on the season (8-0 in league play). Claire Bianchi returned to the singles lineup, where she split sets in a similar fashion to freshman Gwendi Rogers, who played the #3 position. JV call-up Betsy Peters battled gamely to a 5-7 in her first varsity match, while facing the Providence #2 player.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

I’m proud of the way the girls executed our gameplan for this week, which was to take every opportunity to improve, regardless of who they were playing. We had some less experienced opponents this week, but I feel that we managed to improve on movement at the net, composure in baseline rallies, and also in serve accuracy. We’ve got our top two rivals for the league title to play next Tuesday and Thursday, so the work we put in this week should be put to good use in the coming week!

Laguna Blanca Boys’ Tennis Opens Season 2-1

The Owls faced a rain-soaked first half of the 2023 tennis season, but managed to go into spring break with wins over Orcutt Academy and Santa Ynez High School.

Laguna Blanca v. Orcutt Academy: 6-3 Win

In the season opener, Laguna played the CIF-Central Section format of 6 singles matches followed by 3 doubles matches. Sophomore Davis Ohanian led the team at #1 singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win and junior Mason Berg also won in straight sets at the #4 position.

Laguna’s senior captains, Aden Meisel and Kent Dunn, took third-set tie-break wins at the #2 and #3 positions to add to the Owls’ singles tally. Orcutt fired back with wins at the bottom two positions in the lineup, putting the match at 4-2 going into doubles play.

Laguna got a win from Lucas Ayala and new addition to the team Noah Mitev at the #3 doubles position and the last match of the day was won by Ohanian and Meisel, who partnered at the top spot in the doubles lineup.

Laguna Blanca v. Santa Ynez: 6-3 Win

Laguna again utilized the CIFCS format in the match against Santa Ynez.

The Owls split the singles match-play, wins at the #3-#5 positions (Kent Dunn, Mason Berg, Robbie Dunn, respectively). Davis Ohanian nearly pulled up an upset win at the #1 position, playing the experienced Santa Ynez ace to an 11-13 score in the third-set tie-breaker.

With the match tied going into doubles play, Laguna held nothing back in fielding some formidable doubles combinations. Ohanian and Meisel paired for an 8-4 win at the top spot, with Mason Berg and Kent Dunn also partnering for an 8-2 victory. Junior Lucas Ayala shared the #3 position with freshman Noah Mitev to make a clean sweep of the doubles with an 8-3 win.

Laguna Blanca v. Villanova: 5-13 Loss

The match against Villanova High School from Ojai marked the beginning of Tri-Valley League season play. Unfortunately, it ended in a loss against the deeper Villanova squad, but there were some particularly bright moments for the Owls.

Davis Ohanian played lights-out tennis for a 6-2 win over Tristan Montecino, a senior and one of the stronger players in the league. He followed that up with another quick win, moving him to 3-1 on the season and 2-0 in league play.

The pairing of Robbie Dunn and Mason Berg lost a heart-breaker 6-7 at the #1 doubles position after leading early, but rallied to go 2-1 on the day with 6-2, 6-0 set-wins. Aden Meisel added a win over Roman Moga, the Villanova #2 player.

What’s Next for the Owls?

The Owls return to action after a two-week break, facing visiting Carpinteria High School at 3:30pm today. The match will be followed up on Thursday at Laguna, when the Owls will take on Dunn School in the second Tri-Valley League match of the season.

Laguna Blanca Boys’ Tennis Heads to Spring Break Undefeated!

The Owls have been impressive in the opening matches of the season, going 4-0 against non-league opponents and opening the Tri-Valley League season with a win over Villanova Prep yesterday. At 5-0 overall, and with quality wins over Santa Barbara High, Malibu High, Carpinteria High, Laguna is making a strong case for a high ranking in CIF D5.

Laguna Blanca @ Villanova Prep: 11-7 Win

In the first Tri-Valley League match of the season, the Owls were led by a 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 showing from Ben Rodgers and Davis Ohanian at number one doubles. Laguna doubles teams of Cody Busch-Weiss/Jake Gidney and George Nicks/Mason Berg added two set-wins each to total seven sets in doubles play.

Laguna senior Owen Pryor continues to shine in his new singles role, going 2-1 on the day. Juniors Aden Meisel and Kent Dunn each added a set, bringing the singles total to four.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments:

Owen was an absolute animal today. He chased down every ball relentlessly, showing his athleticism and determination. He nearly went 3-0, only losing a 7-4 tie-breaker against the top player from Villanova and those games were crucial had we ended up in a 9-9 match situation. We definitely couldn’t have won today without him today.

I also want to give a lot of credit to another senior, George Nicks, who stepped into the doubles lineup at the last minute when we had a late scratch. George partnered with Mason for the first time and they picked up two wins that we absolutely had to have; it’s good to know everyone is ready.

In general, that’s the sense I get from this team. Everyone is ready to play whatever role I need from them on any particular day and that’s a dream-situation for a coach!

What’s Next for the Laguna Blanca Boys’ Tennis?

Laguna will now have a two-week spring break, followed by an almost immediate return to Tri-Valley League competition at home against Thacher on April 5th.

Owls Get Big Win Over Villanova to End Season

Laguna Blanca boys’ tennis picked up their best win of the season in their final league match, taking a 12-6 victory over visiting Villanova.

How the Match Unfolded

The Owls struck first with 6-0 victories from Aden Meisel at #3 singles and from Ben Rodgers/Keanu Nakamura at #3 doubles. Seniors Nic Richmond and Ryan Purkait continued their dominance over Tai-Valley League opponents with a 6-3 win over the Villanova #1’s before Timmy Quest finally broke the Laguna stranglehold on the match with a victory at #1 singles.

Junior Kai Suzuki and sophomore/freshman combo Cody Busch-Weiss/Jake Gidney found themselves locked in tight sets at the #2 positions. Suzuki squandered a 5-2 lead, going down 5-6 before righting the ship and taking a gutsy 7-2 tie-breaker against Tristan Montecino, a tournament-level player at Nova #2. Busch-Weiss and Gidney rallied to take their own tie-breaker, winning 8-6 and giving Laguna a 5-1 lead after the first round-of-play.

Laguna continued to roll in doubles, finishing with a eight sets on the day, while the singles results were more mixed. Meisel and senior Andreas Jackson both battled to 4-6 losses against Montecino and Quest, currently ranked in the top-200 in the country was unstoppable. However, Jackson and third-round substitute George Nicks both took wins against the Villanova #3 position to bring the singles to 4-5 overall and assure a healthy victory margin for the Owls.

The win means the Owls finish the season with a winning record for the 10th consecutive year, going 3-2 in what was a COVID-shortened season.

Coach Thorpe’s Comments

This was definitely our strongest showing on the season. We were disappointed to be short our two strongest players in our match against Foothill Tech a few weeks back and they managed to get to our Cate match last week, but had to play on guts alone after two weeks off the courts. Now that we’re back to full strength and had that tight Cate match under our belts, I had a feeling the guys were going to pick up a big win today and they did not disappoint!.

Villanova has two very strong singles players and they’d gone 8-10 against Cate just like us, so I honestly thought there was a good chance we’d be counting games at the end of the day to decide the winner. We really showed our depth though, with doubles utterly dominant and singles holding their own. Kai played like an absolute beast early against their #2, but it was the way he recomposed himself when he lost the 5-2 lead and faced a match point that impressed me most.

What’s Next for the Owls

While the team season is now complete, a small contingent of players will continue on to Tai-Valley League Individuals next Wednesday at Villanova High School, where Richmond and Nicks are likely to be the #1 seed in the doubles draw.