First-year Sophia de los Reyes is already making her mark on the tennis court this year. Last week, she was named the Midwest Conference Women’s Tennis Performer of the Week, an honor that came after an impressive team win over the grinnell women’s tennis opponent, Lake Forest. Along with winning the doubles match with first-year Sabrina Tang, de los Reyes was able to come away with a victory in singles against an experienced opponent, leading the Grinnell team to their tournament win.
“We had lost to Lake Forest twice last year, so being able to perform at a high level in one of our most important Fall matches was really great for Sophia,” said Grinnell Women’s Tennis coach Paige Madara.
In addition to receiving this prestigious honor so early in her college career, de los Reyes has been contributing to the team culture. “[Sophia] has been a huge positive energy boost to the team chemistry on and off the court.” Madara also noted de los Reyes’ dedication to the sport. “She works extremely hard on the court and is very focused on continuing to grow her game, but has a fun time doing so and her positive attitude is contagious to the rest of the team,” said Coach Madara.
Hailing from the Chicago suburb of Lake Zurich, de los Reyes was the top tennis player on her high school team, but she knew she wanted a college team where she wouldn’t be coming in at the top and instead be somewhere in the middle in terms of skill-level. In high school, she mostly played singles, so the transition to playing doubles has been new. “Doubles is so fun because you have another person on court with you and you’re supporting each other,” said de los Reyes.
De los Reyes has noticed there is a lot more support for tennis in college and has enjoyed this change. She also loves when the parents come to the matches, because, “they bring food and support.”
One of de los Reyes’ favorite aspects of tennis is how it enables her to build confidence in herself. “I have to have confidence, because then I can bring that to teammates and then we all are confident in each other,” said de los Reyes. She mentioned how her coach calls the team “gritty,” and how the team has embraced the term “gritty Grinnell tennis.” This is evident in their perfect season so far, as the team stands currently undefeated.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Coach Madara is excited to see how the team will continue to develop. “Our goals are to regain the MWC team title and to win the MWC tournament to advance to NCAAs and see what we can accomplish on the regional and national level,” said Madara. Since team camaraderie is crucial to team success, she knows the team has a strong foundation in accomplishing their goals because the group already supports each other.
As for de los Reyes, her Grinnell Tennis future also looks bright. “I’m just doing what I’m doing, and representing Grinnell.” If she keeps doing what she’s doing, with her dedication, support for the team, and positive energy, she will certainly continue to make her mark on and off the tennis court.
