TicketsMarch 2, 2009
By MARK SCHMETZER
Elizabeth Young wasn't interested in any sport besides tennis while growing up in Knoxville, Tenn., but if she had been, it might've been boxing.
The University of Cincinnati senior sees a similarity between the two sports that she finds appealing.
"I just like the whole competitive nature," the Bearcats' tennis team captain said. "All sports are competitive, but in tennis, it's just you against the other person. It's like boxing. I was always interested in boxing because it's just you and the other person out there. I like the strategy involved in squaring off against another person."
Young and the Bearcats are still early in their 2009 schedule, just part of what is shaping up to be an especially busy time for her. The chemistry major is hoping to move on to medical school after she earns her bachelor's degree, but her tennis activities -- practice, matches and traveling to away matches -- and a heavy academic schedule have kept her from studying for the entrance exam. Instead, she is looking for a job that will tide her over until she can take a shot at getting into medical school in 2010.
"I'm hoping to get a job in a lab, just to make some money," she said. "I have my resume done, but I'm so busy this quarter with matches and trying to cram everything in that it's tough. I'd like to stay around the Cincinnati area, because I have a lot of friends here and I like Cincinnati, but if that doesn't work, I'll probably go back home. I don't have many friends at home. They're off doing their own things. I'm just praying for a job."
First-year UC coach Angela Wilson, who played in college at Indiana University, tries to help her players through these situations by pointing out that they're all part of the education process.
"It's always a hard thing to do as a student-athlete," Wilson said. "Their friends and peers can study and cram before tests, but (the athletes) have all this going on, too. What I tell the girls is they can't do anything about the other stuff during practice or a match, so just give it two hours and then they can leave. I think, as you get to your senior year, you're able to do it a little better. It's harder for freshmen. I also approach it as, `Hey, here's a time to get away from the stress of school for a while.'
"Liz is starting to think about med school, and all this is part of what she has to do. It is hard, but it's part of being a student-athlete. I hope that it helps them when they have to go work and find ways to deal with distractions."
On the court, Wilson is working with Young on harnessing the senior's power.
"What we're working on now are her biomechanics -- trying to stay in points a little longer by keeping her body down and putting some spin on the ball," Wilson said. "She can punish the ball, and what we're trying to get her to do is to stay out there a little longer."
The coach saw progress in Young's 6-3, 6-0 singles win while UC was losing, 4-3, to Toledo on Jan. 24. Young lost the first three games of the match before winning the next 12.
"She figured out the game plan and executed it, which was good," Wilson said. "She was patient, which doesn't always happen. If things don't start well, a lot of these girls will try something else. We always tell them, `The goal is to win. It may not always be pretty.' She's working on that part of the game. She's a smart girl, and we're trying to get her to apply that on the court.
"She's a great kid. She's the captain of the team, and she really wants to do well. She's working very hard on the court. We're still working on areas of her game that she's trying to improve on, and she's very open to that. Some seniors might throw in the towel and say, `Whatever, coach,' but she's not doing that.
"I want for her and hope for her and the other seniors to just have a great senior year. I don't know what our record will be -- I don't have a crystal ball -- but I want them to be happy with their effort. I want them to look back and say, `It was hard work, but I got better." Hopefully, they'll look back and see that they made a lot of progress and learned a lot."
(This story was previously printed in the Bearcat Sports Digest.)