La Costa Canyon’s Chloe Katz an ‘all-court player’ who’s among San Diego’s best

CARLSBAD — The large plastic bin, stored in the garage, was filled with tennis trophies Chloe Katz had earned. She was 10 years old at the time and the family was moving to Rancho Santa Fe.

Somehow, the trophies never arrived.

“I kept waiting for that box,” said Katz, now a 16-year-old sophomore at La Costa Canyon High School. “And it never quite made it.”

Chloe’s father told her the trophies must have been lost in the move. Years later, he leveled with his daughter. He tossed them in a recycling bin.

“Downsize,” explained her father, Mark Katz. “Less is more, that’s my motto.”

Sitting in the first row of bleachers on the Mavericks’ No. 1 court last week, a wistful Chloe said: “It was kind of heartbreaking.”

Chloe’s solution? Restock. By her estimate, the new trophy count is up to 40 to 50. And forget a bin. She has them proudly displayed on shelves above her bed.

“They’re stable,” said Katz, “and it makes me happy.”

Katz is a regular on the United States Tennis Association junior circuit. In the last year, she played in 32 tournaments, usually in both singles and doubles. In girls 16s, she’s ranked 43rd in Southern California.

After not playing high school tennis as a freshman, Katz is representing LCC this fall, part of a team in an individual sport where there can be pressure to win, and there’s nowhere on the court to hide.

She has played 21 high school sets, winning them all, dropping only 12 games. She has won 13 sets at love. Under the new World Tennis Number ranking system, Katz is the San Diego Section’s highest-ranked girl.

Katz said it can get “super lonely sometimes” in junior tennis.

High school tennis, she said, is “definitely a lot less stressful. No matter whether you win your match, there are 10-15 girls giving you high-fives walking off the court, which is definitely not the case in juniors.”

Mark Katz said it’s apparent his daughter is enjoying the team environment.

“She doesn’t want me to drive her to the competitive site of a match,” he said. “She wants to go with the girls on the bus. The whole nine yards. Singing karaoke, holding hands. All the things girls do.”

At 5-foot-10, Katz is tall as high school tennis players go. She hits the ball hard from the baseline and is blessed with a big serve, but is athletic enough to approach the net and volley.

“She hits a big ball,” said Canyon Crest Academy coach Kevin Brown, who has coached high school tennis for 39 years. “She plays more mature for her age, for sure. She knows what her strengths and weaknesses are.”

Asked what Katz’s weaknesses are, Brown said: “I couldn’t find one, stroke-wise. Forehand, backhand, backhand volley, serve, overhead.”

After Katz beat Poway’s Kailey Long 6-0, Long said: “She’s quite focused, and she has pure talent.”

Twice a week, Katz and her 13-year-old brother, Adrian, go to Newport Beach to be coached by Dan Willman with Cali Performance Tennis.

Willman, who has worked with Katz for two months, said she hits the ball hard, adding, “It can get a lot better.”

Added Willman: “She has a lot of potential. She hasn’t tapped into that potential yet. She’s still developing, working a bunch on the serve, forehand and transition to the net. I would classify her as an all-court player. But she’s not even close to tapping into her potential.”

In April, Katz advanced to the finals of the 123rd Ojai Tennis Tournament in Girls 16s. In July, she played her first national tournament, losing in the first round of doubles and singles. The 6-3, 6-0 loss in singles left her distraught.

“She was very upset and had kind of a sad moment, literally crying,” said her father.

Since August, Katz has focused on playing junior tournaments in the girls 18s. In September, she won a Level 4 USTA tournament in Albuquerque, N.M., placing third in doubles.

Junior tournaments are ranked from level 1 (the highest) to level 7.

“When they get to their teenage years, sport is not something you tell them, ‘You have sport today,’” said Katz’s mother, Alina. “They have to be willing to do it. She has made the decision that tennis is the way to go for her. She is very determined with this.”

Sit down with Katz for 20 minutes and you’ll walk away as impressed with her sense of humor as her groundstrokes. Just as her game is well-rounded, so too can she be thoughtful and playful.

Regarding her chemistry teacher, June Honsberger, Katz said: “My teacher is amazing and I love her. She makes the learning super easy and direct. She’s a gem.”

As for what she likes about tennis, Katz bobbed her head up and down for a moment, then said, “It’s a great outlet for a lot of things. If I fail a test at school, I can smack a 110 mph serve, which I don’t think is acceptable in any other sport. You can’t truck someone when you’re playing lacrosse.

“In tennis, you can hit the ball as hard as you want, as long as you get it between the lines.”