Sweat drips down your head as you wait for your opponent to serve. With the swish of your racquet, you slam into the ball and return the serve. The pressure builds as you volley back and forth.
For varsity tennis captain and senior Victoria Sarabosing, tennis is a passion that she wants to follow into college. After graduating high school, she has committed to play Division III tennis at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), as a Biomedical Engineering major.
“The facilities, the courts, the coaches and the team were awesome,” Sarabosing said. “I also think that the fact that it’s a really competitive place drove me to it. I know that if I go there and I’m not focused, I’ll get left behind, so I need to constantly challenge myself.”
As Sarabosing began to consider collegiate tennis in her sophomore year, she encountered some personal obstacles.
“I started thinking about getting recruited and playing tournaments as more of a job instead of what I was really loving to do, which wasn’t good,” Sarabosing said. “After getting recruited, which was pretty stressful, having to figure out what I wanted, what coaches wanted from me, I realized that it’s a great blessing and great opportunity.”
Sarabosing started playing tennis at 7 years old, but began taking the sport seriously around the age of 11. But when she joined the Portola High tennis team her freshman year, she soon realized that high school tennis is very different.
“I had to look at it from a team standpoint because tennis is an individual sport,” Sarabosing said. “It was a different kind of pressure because you’re not letting yourself down; you’re letting your team down. So I learned how to support other people through my playing.”
Even though she started out as a singles player, Sarabosing transitioned to flourishing as a doubles player in her sophomore year
“She has more fun playing doubles,” girls varsity tennis assistant coach Maithy Do said. “So she’s a little bit looser and has more fun with it.”
Along with her doubles teammate and team co-captain, sophomore Leanna Roman, Sarabosing leads her team into wins with pep talks, support and cheering, according to Do.
Do also stated that Sarabosing is on top of her leadership and commitment to the team; her playing style was one of the main reasons why she got recruited by RPI.
“She’s been playing tennis for basically her entire life, so she knows the game really well,” Do said. “She knows strategies and she’s kind of known as a player who has a tricky style. She’s able to just have drop shots and slice and mix up her game. That makes her a really strong player because, especially in high school tennis, you don’t see that very often.”
Sarabosing followed one saying throughout her tennis career, which helped her become a determined player and eventually get recruited.
“Don’t stop trying,” Sarabosing said. “No matter how many coaches talk to you and then drop you and how many coaches tell you that you’re not good enough for their program, keep going. You’ll find your place.”
