Amazing what the threat of having to spend one’s own money can do to the maturity level of a teenager.
“I was probably 14 when I started taking tennis seriously,” said University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Jenna Nurik. “My parents told me if I ever broke a racket [in anger] I’d have to buy the next one myself. They also said they’d consider pulling me out [of competitive tennis].”
Duly warned, Nurik is yet to break her first racket or throw her first fit, which are at least two reasons why UTC’s No. 1 player won the Southern Conference Sportsmanship Award one day before the men’s and women’s league tournaments were to begin this morning at the Champions Club.
“Jenna plays the game with a lot of class,” UTC women’s coach Jeff Clark said Tuesday. “She plays with fairness and competes hard. Win or lose, she carries herself the same way, which is sometimes hard to do.”
Budget cuts, coaching changes and an ever-improving SoCon have made it hard for the Lady Mocs to return to the top of a league they once dominated. But their 11-10 overall record and 6-4 conference mark assure them of finishing .500 or better for the year for the first time since 2003.