Tennis opens collegiate doors for senior girls

While most seniors look forward to attending colleges and universities for their respective majors, a select few of members of the girls’ tennis players will continue the sport in college.

“I’m so excited because I had so much fun on the Saratoga team,” said senior Kara Wang, who has chosen Pomona College for their Division III tennis team.

Other girl tennis players who have also been recruited by colleges include Kelly Lamble, who will play at Santa Clara University on a full scholarship, and Lindsey Marsh, who will play at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo University.

Marsh and Lamble will play on D1 teams.

Although Marsh was also considering Santa Clara, she decided to go to Cal Poly as soon as she got in. Although she realizes she may not start there, Marsh realizes Cal Poly had a better program for her major of choice, kinesiology.

Cal Poly’s team requires a lot of commitment since it ranks as one of the best in the nation.

Lamble is looking forward to being an integral part of her college team right away. After taking recruiting visits to Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia as well as SCU, Lamble decided on SCU because of the scholarship opportunity.

“I narrowed my choices down to Santa Clara and Cornell, but ultimately chose SCU because of the money,” said Lamble. [Also,] after spending a week on the East Coast in the middle of winter, I couldn’t imagine leaving the sun behind.”

Lamble also realizes the competition in the Bay Area and realizes the choice of area will be a huge benefit.

“Even though I didn’t play for the school for the past two years, having so many good players in the area gave me a lot of people to practice with,” said Lamble.

While Marsh and Lamble look forward to making tennis their main focus of college, Wang has decided to take on a less rigorous tennis schedule at DIII Pomona. She believes choosing a DIII school will allow her to focus more so on academics while still being involved with the sport.

“The school wants team members to make academics a priority,” said Wang. “They don’t mind if you miss practice sometimes for class.”

The school truly emphasizes education with a smaller student to teacher ratio.

“The academics will immediately allow me to go to graduate school to pursue a professional degree,” said Wang.

Wang has been approached by Columbia as well. Both Columbia and Pomona felt Wang would do well on their team when they viewed her online profile.

“When the Pomona and Columbia coaches approached me, I could immediately tell Pomona had a much more relaxed atmosphere,” said Wang.

Pomona only requires players to come to practice four times a week, while Cal Poly and Santa Clara both require six practice days.

Wang’s DIII team will still require a competitive attitude, however, as they are ranked top among their West Coast Conference.

“I like the idea of not having to travel as much as a D1 school, but still being able to play tennis competitively,” said Wang.

The three girls’ recruitment to college tennis is a testament to the competition at Saratoga High School.

“To not have to give up something I love just because I’m leaving high school is amazing,” said Wang. “It will be a different, but exciting experience.”