Senior Shine: Western Michigan

Taylore Beach, Mason High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

I will miss the relationships I had built throughout my high school tennis career. I had such a wonderful team and coaches that constantly gave me endless support and always pushed me to be the best I could be.

What one item do you have to have in your tennis bag no matter what?

I always have three pairs of extra socks in my tennis bag, there was too many times I’d get to practice or a match and had no socks, so I decided to be overly prepared.

What are you most proud of in your high school tennis career?

I’m most proud of my mental and physical growth through the summer leading to my senior year tennis season. My coach and I spent lots of time practicing, and I had a personal trainer to help me with my fitness and being quicker on the court. Because of them, I not only developed stronger as a tennis player, but I grew stronger as a person as well.

Who is your favorite tennis player?

My favorite tennis player is Serena Williams. I believe her and I have similar demeanors on the court--we always want to win. She’s also taught me that no matter what life gives you, keep doing what you love and be the best you can.

What are your hobbies outside of tennis?

Outside of tennis, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, traveling, going to the beach, and running/working out.

Krista Kocur, Allegan High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

I will miss everything about high school tennis. Making life long friends, the endless bus rides, and the support from all the families.

What one item do you have to have in your tennis bag no matter what?

Of course an extra racket just in case if a string breaks. Then hair ties since I always would forget them.

What are you most proud of in your high school tennis career?

I am most proud of making it to state my sophomore and junior year. And making it to the finals my junior year.

What are your hobbies outside of tennis?

My hobbies outside of tennis are playing volleyball and spending time with friends and family.

Did you prefer singles or doubles and why?

I prefer doubles because if you are down then your partner will help bring you back up.

Emily Derr, Holland High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

My teammates and how close we all are. I will also miss the team dinners that we had before tournaments.

What is your high school coach’s most memorable saying?

Start strong and go Dutch!

What is one song that will always make you think of your high school tennis team?

Flare Guns by Quinn Xcii

What is your go-to shot on court?

Volley and poach

What are your hobbies outside of tennis?

Musical theatre, acting, and singing

Did you prefer singles or doubles and why?

Doubles because it's fast-paced and I get to play at the net and get a lot of volleys.

Vivian Book, Holland High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

I am going to miss my team the most. I came to play tennis in my sophomore year in high school, and I had already had friends on the team. I was fully welcomed into the tight knit group of girls.

What are your plans for playing tennis after high school?

I will be joining the intramural team at Michigan State University!

What is one song that will always make you think of your high school tennis team?

Best Love Song by T-Pain:)

What are you most proud of in your high school tennis career?

I am most proud of my accomplishments at fourth singles. I gave singles a shot not knowing what to expect, and it turned out to be a very rewarding season that made me very proud to play the sport.

What is your go-to shot on court?

My go-to shot on the court is a “baby” shot, one that just makes it over the net :)

What are your hobbies outside of tennis?

I love to cook and bake, and am pretty much always dancing. I am known for busting out crazy weird moves in the middle of a point at practice!

Claire Danko, Catholic Central High School

What are your plans for playing tennis after high school?

University of Michigan Club Team

What is your strength on the court? Weakness on the court?

Strong first serve and baseline shots are strong and hard. Weakness – a tendency to hit late.

What are you most proud of in your high school tennis career?

Sophomore year Michigan State finalist (runner up)

What is your go-to shot on court?

A forehand down the line deep corner

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

The average rally lasts three balls and the player with the best serve and return usually wins.

A story from Claire:

Regional final sophomore year, I was down 0-6 0-3 and I dug deep and pulled out a 3 set win. Last year, I played with a wrist bone spur needing surgery shortly after the season was over. I was proud to receive an All-State award while injured.

Annika Williams, Holland High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

I will miss the team dinners, tournaments, playing rivals, playing really intense tennis with my partner, and just being around my teammates and coaches

What is your high school coach’s most memorable saying?

My Coach’s most memorable saying is “um.” This has always been a team joke and we would always see how many times he would say it when giving a speech because he would say it an unusual amount of times. Whenever he would speak for a long time, we would always look at each other because we knew he was going to say it a lot. We were never annoyed; we always thought it was funny.

What is one song that will always make you think of your high school tennis team?

“Gold Digger” by Kanye West will always remind me of high school tennis. One of my best friends/teammates hurt her wrist during a match and she had to sit out and do wrist exercises, like rotating it. One day “Gold Digger” came on during practice and she was moving her wrist to the beat and our team thought it was the funniest thing. Ever since when that song comes on we would rotate our wrists like it was a dance.

Who is your favorite tennis player?

Serena Williams is my favorite tennis player because I grew up watching her and I got really serious with tennis because of her. She is my role model and I have always looked up to her because she is one of the strongest tennis players. Her winning all of those titles amazes me and makes her the goat. She has also been a strong feminist and has shown me and others that women can do anything that men can do.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

“Keep your head up” was the best advice that I received and it came from my coach and teammates. I believe that I would lose matches because of my mental game. Once one thing went wrong it would snowball. I would always put my head down and that made me think about my mistakes and show my opponents that I was struggling. By them telling me to keep my head up I didn’t think about the last point and it kept my confidence up.

Elena Engle, Holland High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

My teammates and team bonding, team dinners where we would be laughing the whole time and enjoying time together

What are your plans for playing tennis after high school?

I am committed to play at Adrian College, which I'm super excited to continue (playing tennis).

What one item do you have to have in your tennis bag no matter what?

Always have a gatorade in my bag, granola bar and, of course, sunscreen

What is your high school coach’s most memorable saying?

It's a good day to have a good day

What is one song that will always make you think of your high school tennis team?

Gold Digger by Kanye West, after I hurt my wrist after falling and had to do wrist exercises while the team was on the court, this song came on and I was rotating my wrist and it just became a thing.

Casey Smith, Portage Central High School

Story submission from Chris Schumacher:

Casey is a hard-working high school senior from Portage, Michigan. Casey works very hard on and off courts, great student and friends, also she has a great influence on junior tennis players, both boys and girls. Everyone at school or in the tennis community knows who Casey Smith is--she has very good traits such as hard-working, accountable, reliable, genuine, fun yet sincere. She truly is a great role model for Midwest USTA/Westestern Michigan Tennis District. Our tennis community is very proud of this young lady and we’ll miss having her around this Fall. We wish her the very best! She’s WMTA/Midwest Senior Shine!

Bailey Gilbert, Coopersville High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

I will miss meeting people from other schools.

What one item do you have to have in your tennis bag no matter what?

I never forget my tennis hat and an extra racquet!

What is your strength on the court? Weakness on the court?

My strengths are being defensive and staying in points. My weakness is net play.

What are you most proud of in your high school tennis career?

I'm most proud of the fact that I qualified for the state tournament my junior year!

What is your go-to shot on court?

My go-to shot is a cross-court backhand!

Did you prefer singles or doubles and why?

I prefer singles because it helps push me to be more mentally tough.

A story from Bailey:

My sophomore year, tennis brought me closer to a German exchange student who is now my best friend that I've traveled to see twice!

Aubrey Bates, Coopersville High School

What are your hobbies outside of tennis?

I love playing other sports. Including tennis, I play three sports, volleyball and basketball. Besides sports, I love going to the beach with my friends and getting tan. I love hanging out with my family and playing cards.

Kaitlynn Szydlowski, Vicksburg High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

The thing I will miss most about high school tennis is my coaches and team. I feel that I had some of the best coaches and teammates. They always made me laugh and were also always very supportive.

What one item do you have to have in your tennis bag no matter what?

I always have gum in my tennis bag. I feel like I can't play without it.

What is your high school coach’s most memorable saying?

One thing my coach would always say during a match was "Play your own game." It always stuck with me and my teammates and reminded us to play to our abilities to win the next point.

What are your hobbies outside of tennis?

Some of my hobbies outside of tennis are wind ensemble, marching band, basketball, and golf.

Did you prefer singles or doubles and why?

I preferred playing doubles because I enjoyed playing with a partner. My partner and I were very close friends and we worked really well together. I also feel that I play better in doubles than in singles.

Mikayla Sands, Vicksburg High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

I will definitely miss my teammates and coaches the most. They were some of the best, most inspiring people I have ever met.

What one item do you have to have in your tennis bag no matter what?

One item I always have in my tennis bag is gum! My doubles partner and I always had to have gum while playing, it was the only way we could focus.

What is your high school coach’s most memorable saying?

There is a 2 way tie between 2 quotes. The first one being "Be the flame that lights the court" and the other being "Play your game."

What are you most proud of in your high school tennis career?

I think my most proud moment was my very last match my Junior year. Although my doubles partner and I lost, we played the best we've played all season.

Do you have any superstitions on the tennis court?

My one superstition on the tennis court is I have to have to wear my visor! Even when it's not sunny, I have it on!

Samantha Korecki, Grand Haven High School

What will you miss most about high school tennis?

I will miss the ability to exercise by doing something that I enjoy with my teammates. I love to play tennis, and I love to be able to stay in shape by playing a game that I love. I will miss joking around with my teammates, jamming out to music in the school vans, and feeling accomplished after every win.

What one item do you have to have in your tennis bag no matter what?

I always have band-aids and my inhaler in my tennis bag. I tend to absentmindedly scratch at my arms in between points, and I often find myself bleeding during my matches. I also have both exercise-induced and chronic asthma, so my inhaler is always handy.

What is your high school coach’s most memorable saying?

"It's not just about being the best players on the court, it's about being the best people" - Chris Wilton

What are you most proud of in your high school tennis career?

I am proud of the way I was able to cultivate a positive environment on the girls' varsity team at my school. I made it a point to talk to everyone I could, on both varsity and JV alike. I made sure to treat everyone the same- with kindness. As I rose through the ranks on the varsity team, I worked to inspire fun and squash elitist behavior. I believe that the team is better off now than when I was a freshman, and I hope that the upcoming members will continue the movement.

Did you prefer singles or doubles and why?

I prefer singles. When I play singles, I know that I am fully responsible for my matches. It is up to me to run after every ball, place every shot, and keep myself moving. There is no standing around and waiting for the ball to come to me, I must go to it. I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with winning a hard-fought match.