WVU Women’s Tennis | Game Highlights | 2.19.2017 [VIDEO]

February 19, 2017

[VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]

The West Virginia University Women’s Tennis Team opened yesterday’s match by taking the doubles point, but Virginia Tech won four straight singles to claim the victory, 4-3. Reporter Heather Lee Naples has more on today’s game against Marshall.

After facing a setback against Virginia Tech yesterday, the Mountaineers are focused on winning today against Marshall.

“Regardless of whether we would’ve won yesterday’s match or lost yesterday’s match, we’re focused on both matches” – Miha Lisac, head coach.

WVU opened the match with a solid start, winning both doubles matches that finished play. However, Marshall slowed down West Virginia’s momentum by picking up victories in three of the first four singles matches.

With a close final score of 4-3, West Virginia used a late rally in singles play to defeat their in-state rival. West Virginia’s perseverance was key as Lyn Yuen Choo and Sofia Duran won the last two singles matches of the day. This resulted in an overall victory for the team. Duran claims that staying positive is essential for a winning mindset.

“I just keep thinking positive. Just keep going. It doesn’t matter if you’re down—it doesn’t matter. The score doesn’t matter. You just have to keep going. Playing your best, and keep going.” – Sofia Duran

The Mountaineers’ victory ended the Thundering Herd’s four-game win streak. WVU now leads the battle for the Mountain State, 22-17.

To stay connected with the team for the rest of the season, visit WVUTENNIS.com or follow @WVUTENNIS on Twitter. Reporting from Morgantown, I’m Heather Lee Naples.

WVU Women’s Tennis Holds High Expectations for Demanding Spring Schedule

The West Virginia University women’s tennis team will begin the spring season by facing a familiar foe in Pittsburgh. On Saturday, January 21, the Mountaineers will play the Pitt Panthers, and that’s only the beginning of the team’s tough schedule ahead.

The Mountaineers are in for one of the toughest seasons in program history. They are set to play eight teams that made it to the NCAA Championships in 2016. Out of those eight teams, six of them got past the first round, and one even made it to the national championship game.

“We will approach spring season the right way, which means attacking the matches from the first match on, and then seeing the spring season as a process in which we will improve as a team,” head coach Miha Lisac says, “[Competition] is tough, has been tough, and is going to continue to be tough.”

Assistant coach Emily Harman says she is excited for this season because “it’s definitely a lot stronger than the programs seen in the past.”

Key Players

Tennis doesn’t work like many other sports in the sense that there are no “superstar” players. Everybody has to contribute in tennis since there are no singled-out key players; A lot of teamwork and cohesiveness goes into matches. Head coach Miha Lisac says that everyone has to be a team player. “We have six players and everybody counts for one point in singles, so having one superstar really doesn’t take care of the other five points,” Coach Lisac says, “It’s a fairly, evenly matched team.”

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Photo courtesy of @WVUTennis

Fourth-year head coach Miha Lisac, a native Slovenian, has put together a comprehensive roster of student athletes from all around the world. The Mountaineers come from six different countries, including five different continents. In addition to international talent, Lisac has also found home-grown talent in the Mountain State. Out of his 11 players, three are native West Virginians.

Big 12 Conference

“The bar has been established in the Big 12 by many programs for many years,” head coach Miha Lisac said. “They are good programs. We are always going to respect what teams have done so far in the Big 12 conference.”

The Mountaineers will begin conference play on March 11 in Ames, Iowa, as they take on Iowa State. The squad will then head down to Kansas on March 24 and Kansas State on March 26.

WVU will open Big 12 play in Morgantown on March 31 when they take on NCAA third round participant Texas. The following four matches feature the most grueling part of the schedule for the Mountaineers as they face teams that were ranked No. 32 or higher in the final 2016 Oracle/ITA rankings, including a match opposing Oklahoma State, the 2016 national runner-up, in Morgantown on April 21.

The final match of the season will be against Oklahoma on April 23. WVU will then travel to the Big 12 Championship that will be held in Norman, Oklahoma on April 27-April 30.

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WVU Women’s Tennis Team 2016-2017. Photo courtesy of wvusports.com.

Beyond the Crown with Lauren Roush, Miss West Virginia USA 2017

Lauren Elizabeth Roush, 21, was born and raised in Mason, West Virginia. However, she has considered Morgantown “home” ever since attending West Virginia University. Lauren is a senior at West Virginia University, where she is a sister of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s degree in Education through a 5-year program. On the days when she is not in class at West Virginia University, she is teaching class at Taylor County Middle School. She has been student teaching for about a year and a half now, and she hopes to student teach at Morgantown High School next year.

During the summer of 2016, Lauren traveled to the commune of Ñuñoa in Santiago, Chile to teach English as a second language. For one week, she taught elementary school children while paired with another English teacher. During her stay, she lived in an apartment with a house mother, a widow named Margarita who spoke minimal English. Lauren says she enjoyed seeing the Andes Mountains, but her favorite part of the trip was being with the kindergarteners.

Lauren is a self-proclaimed “thrill-seeker” and “adrenaline junkie,” which started by going to amusement parks with her family when she was younger. From age 5-12, her dad and brother inspired her to race motocross. Although her family still races motocross to this day, Lauren has moved on to new adventures. For her 21st birthday, she base-jumped off the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. She also went sky diving while she was in Las Vegas and says she would like to do it again.

In addition to being the down-to-earth girl next door, Lauren is also a beauty queen. She competed in almost fifty pageants before she was crowned Miss West Virginia USA on October 16th, 2016. After placing first runner-up in 2015, she made it her mission to do at least one thing each day that would help her achieve the title of Miss West Virginia USA the following year. Ultimately, her hard work paid off as she finally reached her goal of being able to represent her home state of West Virginia on a national level at the Miss USA pageant in 2017.

Lauren wants outsiders to look beyond her crown; she wants people to know that there is a lot more that goes into pageantry than what meets the eye. The women who compete in pageants are not only scored on their outer beauty. Instead, they are judged based on their poise, eloquence, health, and wellness. Lauren worked out at the gym every day for the year leading up to the Miss West Virginia USA pageant, with cycling being her favorite form of exercise. She also wrote an influential speech titled “To My Younger Self,” which she presents to young girls in elementary school, middle school, and high school. Lauren says she utilized as many opportunities as possible to better herself in order to prepare for the pageant, and that was a key element to her winning attitude.

“As Miss West Virginia USA, I want to dedicate my reign as a public servant for my state. West Virginia has given me so much in my life. My humble Appalachian roots are a huge part of my identity. I was raised to treat everyone with respect, to appreciate the little things in life, and that being kind is invaluable. As president Kennedy said, ‘The sun may not always shine in West Virginia, but the people always do.’ I am honored to be one of these people, and I want to spend my year showing our nation just how bright our people shine.” – Lauren Elizabeth Roush, Miss West Virginia USA 2017.

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Written and photographed by Heather Lee Naples.

 

Never Give Up on Your Dreams

Miss Princeton

My journey through pageantry started when I was fifteen years old. I caught the “pageant fever” when I competed in my first pageant back in 2012, a local Miss West Virginia’s Outstanding Teen preliminary. I remember I was so nervous because I was competing against the girl who received first runner-up at the state pageant the previous year. Luckily, it turned out that they were crowning two girls that day. She and I both got crowned and became “pageant sisters.” To this day, I still consider her one of my best friends that I’ve gained from pageants.

I often look back on that day when I was crowned Miss New River Gorge’s Outstanding Teen, which was about four years ago now, and I see a completely different girl. Back then, I was shy teenager with very little self confidence. Now, I am confident in myself, I can hold a conversation with just about anyone, and I’m a devoted advocate of my platform. These are just a few qualities I have gained through pageantry. I have learned numerous, valuable life lessons that I don’t think I would have otherwise learned if it weren’t for competing.

The value of good sportsmanship and friendship is a key element I’ve seen in pageantry. From the outside looking in, people assume that pageant girls are catty, mean, and hateful. However, throughout my experience in the industry, I have noticed the exact opposite. Pageantry is a sisterhood, and the women I’ve met through competing in pageants are some of the strongest, most accomplished people I know. A few of my closest friendships have evolved from pageantry, and I am so thankful for that. Although us pageant girls may compete against each other, we can still remain good friends at the end of the day, regardless of the outcome.

Perhaps the most important thing that pageants have taught me is how to lose. Believe it or not, pageants aren’t all about winning. I strongly believe that I’ve grown more as a person from losing pageants rather than from winning them. For example, I started competing in the Miss West Virginia Association of Fairs & Festivals pageant system when I was sixteen years old. I competed in this system for three years straight without winning. I placed first runner-up many times, but sometimes I didn’t even place at all.

These three years were tough, but they made me stronger, they taught me how to conquer defeat, and they taught me to never lose sight of the end goal. I’d say I competed in at least 20 pageants before I finally won a title, but after three long years of trying, I finally accomplished my goal. This May, I was crowned Miss Princeton AutumnFest, and I will go on to compete for the state title of Miss West Virginia Association of Fairs & Festivals in January.

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I know that everything leading up to this moment was worth it and meant to be, including all of my losses…especially my losses. It’s true what they say—you have to learn how to lose before you can truly learn how to win. After many years of defeat, I never lost sight of my goal, and I ultimately learned the true meaning of success. It’s not all about the destination. It’s about the journey, and more importantly, staying humble throughout that journey.

My name is Heather Lee Naples, and this is my journey…

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