The Week in Sports

October 27, 2017

Halloween is right around the corner. Soon the campus will be filled with kids both big and little looking for sugary snacks. Pirates, princesses, and all sorts of other costumes will be on display on the Mesa and for one night, the year’s inquiry question will be “trick or treat?” The answer to that question is a mixed bag for our schools sports teams, with a few of them heading to postseason play and others ending their campaigns.

No one is going into postseason with more steam than the girls varsity tennis team. The 13-1 Rams are riding a 5 match winning streak, after picking up their only loss against a very talented San Marcos team. The regular season is in the books for Cate, with the Tri-Valley League individual tournament left to play before the CIF-ss playoffs begin.

Thanks to a tough league schedule, the Cate girls volleyball team will miss out on playoffs. However, the Rams ended the season on a high note, winning four of their last six games. In that stretch, they had a three-set sweep of St. Bonaventure, who they had lost a five-set match against earlier in the year. For a team filled with freshmen and sophomores, the confidence of going into the offseason with some wins can be invaluable. However bright the future seems for this young team, it’s always tough to say goodbye to seniors. Hailey Panzer ’18, Julia McCaw ’18, and Emily Burns ’18 all contributed greatly to this program and we are so proud of what they’ve done.

Football is one of two teams that has locked up a spot in the postseason. The Rams dropped two league games by a combined nine points this season and have played one of the toughest schedules in the section. Most recently, the team took down another top 10 opponent in Upland Christian. The Rams will close out the regular season against an old foe, as the Thacher Toads make their way to the Mesa. A win would give the Rams momentum going into the postseason and, of course, bragging rights over their oldest rivals.

The boys water polo team wrapped up its season with a tough loss to Villanova. The Rams finished the tough campaign at 3-10 but played several of the toughest teams to close contests all season long. The good news for the Rams is that several key players will be returning next season: Sebastian Sak ’19, Cullen Barber ’19, and Peter Bulkley-Armas ’20. The Rams will say good bye and thank you to Parker Matthews ’18, Charlie Corman ‘18, Andre Pincot ’18 and Nick Carlson ’18 as those seniors leave their Cate water polo careers with great memories.

One team that doesn’t have their playoff fate sealed is Cate cross country. The Rams will run in the Santa Barbara County Championships and the Frontier League finals before their regular season is done, with the latter of the two determining when their season wraps up. Regardless of the final outcome of the season, the Rams have run well. Like their volleyball-playing classmates, the Rams have a young squad and will look to get improve on a solid year next fall.

The girls tennis team has been fire this fall, dropping just one contest this year. The Rams have been paced by Grace Fuss ’20, Jackie Cai ’18, Janice Ng ’18, and Carol Cai ’20. Cate has also seen great contributions from Fritzie Mayer ’21 and Sydney Burton ’19. One of the reasons the Rams have been so successful this season is the versatility of the girls on the court; there have been several different double combinations, creating matchup problems for Cate’s opponents. Four regular season games remain for Cate before the Tri-Valley League finals and the CIF-ss playoffs.