Cate Tennis Continues Undefeated Start

March 26, 2026

Season record: 4-0

Today, your Cate School Boys Varsity Tennis team drove down to Hope Ranch to play against the Laguna Blanca School Owls. This was the Owls’ ninth game of the season, compared to our fourth, as well as being our first game back from break, so our rackets were considerably more rusty than those of our opponents. Despite this, the rams did not falter in their steps, trekking forward courageously towards victory.

Playing at near-full strength, the team headed onto the courts with a slightly modified lineup consisting of singles composed of Kakeru Hirofuji ’27 at one, Alex J Danely ’28 at two, and Andrew Jayich ’28 at three, and doubles constituted by James He ’27 with Kenny Wang ’27 at one, Kendrick Suen ’28 and Kaden Greene ’27 at two, and Graham Clinger ’26 with Kiy Barry ’26 at three. Barry was called up from JV only two days prior to the match and made his varsity starting debut today.

The harsh rays of the sun were hot, but the Rams’ start was even more fiery, sweeping the first round and taking all six sets. The He/Wang duo was first to claim victory, making quick work of their opponents for a bagel (6-0), reminiscent perhaps of a past Su/Newlove doubles team. Likewise, Hirofuji, Suen/Greene, and Clinger/Barry all returned from their courts without dropping a single game. Finally, Jayich and Danely took home wins 6-1 and 6-3, respectively.

Following the first round, we were able to make several substitutions, as victory was all but guaranteed. Coming off the bench, Ian Sheshunoff ’26, Noah Bien ’27, and Ramsey Bolton ’29 slotted into doubles, while Nolah Hsing ’29 dropped into singles. Sheshunoff/Bien took home a 6-3 victory against the opposing doubles three, while Greene/Bolton won 6-0 and 6-1 against the opposing ones and threes, respectively, for yet another bagel. Finally, Clinger/Barry continued to battle, falling just short in a heartbreaking 4-6 loss to the opposing ones. However, they did not dwell on the loss, instead rebounding to become the only team of the evening to bagel the opposing doubles three 6-0. Singles was a similar story, with Jayich sweeping his other two matches 6-3 and 6-4, as well as Danely taking his second set 6-0 (another bagel). Making his singles debut, Hsing impressed with a strong performance against the opposing two and a 6-1 victory against the three. Last but not least, our beloved Bruce Li ’28 easily took home a 6-2 victory against Laguna’s singles one despite playing through injury.

This match was an amazing showing from all players, and every single person on the varsity roster had playtime. Our players showed grit and tenacity despite rustiness and heat. Our next contest is a home game against Villanova on Tuesday at 3:30.