“It was 7 to 5 for both sets— a tie,” said junior Jessica Chavarin. “I messed up.” She felt destroyed but she also knew that soon she would rise up from that moment.

Chavarin’s tennis career began because she wanted to do another sport other than basketball.

“I thought it was going to be bad or it was going to be boring,” she said, “but once you get used to it, you just love it with passion.”

It’s been three years now that Chavarin has played tennis. As a beginner she was the only freshman on the team and remembers the first piece of advice her coach gave her: “Don’t be scared.” From that moment on, as she describes, she didn’t step onto the court scared, but with confidence.

“The first game I ever won I was a freshman,” said Chavarin, “and I had just started.”

Now her favorite part about tennis is when she hits a corner shot and her opponent can’t receive the hit. Charvarin explains how the sport requires a competitive attitude. “You need to fight for your spot,” she said. “You need to be the one on top.”

Her competitiveness adds to her dedication for tennis. She said, “I’m that type of person that doesn’t care if I’m injured because I’m going to keep playing.”

And her piece of advice to pass on is, “When in doubt — don’t hit it out.”