Cate Rams Ground AG Eagles 17-1
October 15, 2024
The Rams Continue to Roll as They Move Closer Towards Tournament Season.
Cate Girls’ Tennis won an impressive 17-1 victory over visiting Arroyo Grande today. The match pitted the defending CIFSS D3 Champions against the current CIFCS D1 #3-seeded team.
How it Happened
Cate came into the match with an SB Invitational Tournament win over Arroyo Grande in-hand, but the result of this match was anything but certain at the onset.
In the previous match, Arroyo Grande had fielded the B team, due to injury and travel, with the key exception being their star player, senior UTR 6 Elliane Cha. In that match, Cha had triumphed over Cate freshman #1 player Ivy Huang 6-4, 6-2. It looked like the result would be similar, with Cha leading 3-0, 4-1, and 5-2, but Huang dug deep to turn the match for a 7-5 win.
At the same time, Cate surged from closely contested early games to sweep the doubles play, while freshman Jade Wang turned in a 6-2 performance at the #3-spot. Sophomore Lisa Hasebe held a 3-0 lead at #2 singles, but faced a strong come-back from the Arroyo Grande player. However, Hasebe showed poise and determination in the tie-breaker, fist-pumping her way to a 7-4 victory and completing the clean sweep of the first round.
It was nearly all Cate in the remaining rounds as well, with Cha collecting the lone Arroyo Grande win in the second round, before substituting out due to fatigue.
Cate received doubles sweeps from all three starting teams: Reyna Takahashi/Colette Chang, Elly Edwards/Claire Tang, and Elsie Chamberlain/Chelsea Newlove. Takahashi and Chang enter the Tri-Valley League Individuals next week as the hot favorite, after finishing runner-up in 2023.
Coach Thorpe’s Comments:
Arroyo is a very strong team. They’re on-paper as the third-best team in the California Central Section and have a win over the top team (San Luis Obispo), so to take them apart like we did today is really something special.
Ivy’s performance today as a freshman against a senior #1 who beat her earlier this season, coming back from 2-5 down: that’s the stuff on which dynasties are built.
As a coach, this team is a total luxury. I know that whichever lineup we go with, we’re going to field 3 strong singles players without compromising anything in doubles.
We won CIF Division 3 last season on the depth of our team, defeating opponents with multiple singles players that we couldn’t compete with on paper. Now, we have similar depth, but I also feel that we have the ability to compete head-on with teams who have those stand-out UTR 6 and 7 players.
What’s Next for Cate Girls’ Tennis?
The Rams return to action on Thursday against visiting league opponent Villanova Prep. The match will be followed up by “Family Friday,” a team tradition in which Cate players invite parents and siblings to join in practice and competition.