Seniors Joanna Smith and Leighann Sahagun have embodied the traits head coach Sheila McInerney has been known to look for in her players.
As longtime fan Jean Kempner put it, McInerney seeks players who “put school first, (strive for) success, and represent (their) school socially, when (they’re) out, in a good light.”
Both of these players have epitomized that mantra as well as anyone could have during their careers with ASU tennis.
School first
Smith’s intelligent play on the court is arguably rooted from her work ethic in the classroom.
The Laguna Niguel, California, native was valedictorian of her high school senior class, registering a 4.2 GPA, and is on track to graduate with her master’s degree after just four years at ASU. However, you’d never hear her bragging about it.
Smith is regarded as one of the most stable and integral pieces of the Sun Devils’ lineups, both in singles and doubles play.
She said what she enjoyed most from her transition from high school tennis to Division I was playing against the premier collegiate-level players in the country, particularly in the Pac-12.
“The level is just so far beyond what it is in high school,” Smith said. “You get all levels in high school not even up to the caliber of what it is in college. There’s so many opportunities to play really great players.”
Her coach praised her for her growth as an individual over the years.
“I think with Joanna, she made sort of a great transformation — as a person and as a player,” McInerney said. “She’s seen a lot of places in her four years and done a lot of things. She’s got her master's. She came in as a very good student. Graduated in three years. I think she’s developed a lot.”
Striving for success
Smith and Sahagun joined McInerney’s team in the 2011-12 season.
Combined, they have collectively amassed over 200 wins in doubles and singles play throughout the course of their four-year careers.
Winning on the court, however, has not been the only form of success between the two to this point.
Just before the start of the 2015 dual-match season, Sahagun was diagnosed with a torn meniscus; an obstacle she has battled to overcome.
She explained how the thought of her collegiate tennis career ending early really devastated her.
“I was extremely scared,” she said. “I was so scared to the point where before I got surgery I was on the phone crying to my parents, and it was just really unfortunate because last summer I was practicing every day at six o’clock in the morning for two and a half hours, working on stuff just to make sure that this year was my best year yet; and it all just got taken away from me with a snap of a finger.”
Gratefully, the Flushing Meadows, New York, native missed the first 12 games, but was able to return to action in her final season.
Her parents — her father, in particular — have helped her begin to regain her dominant form since she rejoined the squad, and Sahagun likened the support to her youth days in tennis.
“He told me, ‘Think about it as if you were younger. Just have fun. You don’t have any time left, so just enjoy what you do have.’ It really helped me calm down,” she said. “It just kind of brought back a little bit of that motivation that I needed.
I kind of just said to myself, ‘Good champions learn how to win without being able to play their best. Just fight really hard. My team needs me, and I’m going to win for them.’ The results just came with it.”
Representing ASU
Collegiate tennis is a team sport.
For Sahagun, there was a learning curve that came with the transition from high school tennis to the collegiate level, having to transform her individual mindset to a team-oriented one.
“If I would act up — like I was really immature as a freshman — it would look bad on the team and would reflect the team,” she said. “So I knew that after my freshman year once I was playing I had to really mature and think, ‘Well, okay. This is a team effort. It’s not just my effort anymore,’ so, my effort contributes. I know that if I put in a good effort I know that it helps everybody out.
Sahagun nearly transferred out of school during her freshman season because of her frustration with herself, but time off allowed her to reevaluate the situation and look in the mirror before making any hasty decisions.
“I was thinking back on it and thought, ‘Well, there’s no reason for me to be angry with my surroundings when my surroundings are only trying to help me,'” she said. “I was always getting mad my freshman year, then sophomore year, somehow, I just got really calm.”
She said playing for the Sun Devils has helped her grow up and appreciate everything and everyone that has aided her along the way.
“It’s just something I really needed to do to help myself move forward in life,” she said. “It just made me really realize who I wanna be growing up, and who I wanna be towards other people.”
Smith was equally grateful for her time as a part of the group.
“I’m very fortunate to be on full scholarship for all four years,” she said. “I think especially this year, I’ve really come to enjoy the whole thing — playing, practicing with the team. I don’t know if it’s because it’s my last year, but I think I’m enjoying it a lot more.”
McInerney described each of her players as leaders both on and off the court.
“I think Leighann was tough,” she said. “The fact that she’s been playing has been great. And then Joanna, I think has been solid. Really good leader this year. She’s enjoying her tennis and I think she really relishes that this is it and you wanna go out with a bang and she certainly has.”
With one more match remaining in their dual-match regular season careers, the two can only help but sense the finish line, however both remain focused on helping the team achieve and win as long as they’re still around.
As far as legacy is concerned, both players looked to the future with hopeful eyes.
“I love all of the girls here and I’ve been with the same ones the past two years,” Smith said. “Continuing the tradition of being a Sun Devil and striving for excellence I think is something that they’re going to take away with them forward.”
“I hope I leave a good legacy with how to be a good teammate,” Sahagun said. “I want (the returners) to be able to show future Sun Devils to bring energy to each other. So, hopefully I leave a good legacy when it comes to that."
Reach the reporter at kajone31@asu.edu or follow @kaelenjones on Twitter.
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