Kate Prichard is sitting on a bench next to one of Patrick Henry High School’s well-worn tennis courts. A crack in the cement dissects one baseline.

The courts are filled with students playing pickleball during a P.E. class. Later, Henry’s boys lacrosse team turns a plastic trash can on its side in front of a net, firing tennis balls at the simulated goal.

Prichard likes the setting.

“I grew up playing on these courts,” she said.

A privileged, country-club type, Prichard is not. Her parents first took her to Patrick Henry to bat the ball about. From there, she gravitated to San Diego’s tennis mecca, the 100-year-old Balboa Tennis Club.

If form holds, Prichard will be on one of those Balboa courts Saturday, playing in the CIF San Diego Section singles championship. With reigning champion Rebecca Kong of Torrey Pines opting to play in the doubles tournament, Prichard, a senior, is seeded No. 1 in singles.

Prichard won the doubles tournament last fall, teaming with Anna Pallencaoe, now a freshman at Point Loma Nazarene University.

Explaining why she shifted to singles this year, Prichard casually says: “I already won the doubles.”

Prichard stands 5-foot-10. Soft spoken and selfless by nature, her personality is offset by an aggressive playing style.

“Her game is what I like to call downhill tennis,” said her personal coach, Carlos Bracho. “She’s very aggressive. She relies on a real big serve and a big forehand. She loves to come forward, finishing points at the net.”

While some girls shy away from hitting overheads, opting to play it safe and hit balls off the bounce, Prichard does not.

“If you plop it short, she’s going to pound it,” said Canyon Crest coach Kevin Brown. “She’s similar to the last No. 1 seeds we’ve had. She can do anything. And she’s not Lindsey Davenport, big and slow, who needs the ball hit at her. She can run.”

Prichard, who has lived her entire life in Southern California and in San Diego since she was 2, accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Montana.

“I wanted to be somewhere where there were actual trees,” she said. “I think it’s real pretty there, the wildlife. I might have to get used to the cold, but that’s OK.”

Prichard’s Patrick Henry coach, Karen Ronney, describes her as an old soul. The Patriot likes classic rock, including Led Zeppelin, The Clash and Van Halen. Demonstrating her eclectic musical tastes, she’s also a Swiftie, rocking a Taylor Swift sweatshirt to an interview.

She saw Swift in concert in Las Vegas last March.

“The best concert experience I’ve ever had,” she said

“She’s an old soul more so in just the way she thinks and the way she processes information,” said her mother, Julie Prichard, who also graduated from Patrick Henry. “She’s not the traditional teenager of 2023 where she’s on every trend that’s on social media. She values friendships, loyalty, honesty. I think that’s kind of rare in kids today.”

In last year’s CIF doubles championship match, one of Prichard’s Del Norte opponents had the dampener fall off her racket. The small rubber insert on the strings reduces vibration.

When the Del Norte players couldn’t replace the dampener, Prichard asked, “Do you need help?” Then she fixed it.

Said Prichard, “It was the right thing to do.”

An only child, Prichard has earned a 4.6 GPA. She plans to major in environmental science at Montana.

As a team captain, she helped create awards for this year’s team. In the past, some of those awards might have had a negative connotation. Someone who had a tendency to fall might win the award for biggest klutz.

Prichard opted for a more positive vibe. Some of the awards she created:

Best dance moves. Team comedian. Best hugs. Most likely to dive for a ball. Best on-court celebration.

“Her strongest quality,” said Ronney, “is that she’s empathetic.”

The competitive switch, though, flips one once the ball is tossed in the air.

Asked why she favors singles, Prichard pounces like it’s a forehand waiting to be crushed for a winner.

“I’m kind of in my own little world,” she said. “I like having creative freedom.”