Winning Start over Santa Barbara HS
March 2, 2026
Today, your Cate School Boys Varsity Tennis team faced a formidable non-league opponent in the form of the Santa Barbara High Dons. This was a rematch of an unfortunately timed scrimmage from last season, held on the day between two tough CIF playoff matches. At full strength for the first time this season, the singles starting lineup was composed of Kakeru Hirofuji ’27 at one, Bruce Li ’28 at two, and Andrew Jayich ’28 at three. On the doubles side, our starters were James He ’27 and Kenneth Wang ’27 at one, Alex Danely ’28 and Graham Clinger ’26 at two, with our starting lineup being capped off by Kendrick Suen ’28 and Kaden Greene ’27 at three.
With three healthy players at singles, Hirofuji and Li lead the charge, winning all six combined sets, including dominant showings by both against the opposing singles 1, who was recently the runner-up in the U18 division of the Santa Barbara Winter Championships. The title did not matter, however, as Hirofuji and Li won their sets 6-3 and 7-5, respectively. Against the other two SB singles players, Hirofuji did not drop a single game, winning 6-0 & 6-0, while Li won his other two sets 6-0 & 6-2. Rounding out the singles performance, Jayich won two of his three sets, including a hard-fought tiebreak victory over the opposing singles two.
In doubles, our teams faced tough opponents, testing the strength and endurance of our roster as we faced our opponents, who were placed a division higher than us in CIF playoffs last season. The He/Wang duo led the charge, contributing two wide-margin wins. Notably, they beat the opposing doubles one right out of the gate, blitzing through a daunting battle for a 6-2 victory. The pairings of Suen/Greene and Clinger/Danely both won a set apiece and fought valiantly in drawn-out struggles, producing many close sets. The opposing doubles three team was swept by all three Cate duos, and were held gameless by our doubles teams.
This matchup was the first real test of this season’s team against a team with which we were arguably evenly matched. Every Cate player was integral to this victory, with all starters contributing wins. There were numerous rematches from fall and winter season tournaments, and our players demonstrated an eager desire for victory against a difficult opponent. Thank you to our subs, JVBT, and everyone else who came out to watch and cheer us on, as you provided vital support.