Rochester girls' tennis champ competing in the boys' state tournament
Rochester Century senior Jessie Aney is already an individual and doubles state champion in girls' tennis, but the University North Carolina-bound star is now part of Century's state tournament boys' team.
Her story, as told by many, including MN Tennis Hub, is quite remarkable.
After winning the girls' singles title as an eighth grader in 2011, and the 2012 doubles title while playing alongside her sister, the teenage tennis star decided to quit high school tennis in order to prepare for her future playing career at the University of North Carolina.
But Aney made a comeback after her freshman brother, Nick, convinced her to play doubles with him this spring.
Not only is she playing doubles with her brother in this week's boys' state tournament, she's also playing as an individual, becoming the first girl to qualify for the boys' singles tournament in state history.
“She’s not doing it for herself,” Tom Aney told the Hub. “She’s primarily doing it for the team. For her, it’s just another challenge.”
As you can tell by the video below, Aney can bring it.
Aney told WCCO that because the boys play a more aggressive game than most girls, she's often playing defense. But as David McCoy reports, she must be playing some amazing defense, because she's undefeated against this season.
This embed is invalid
KTTC notes that Aney went 15-0 this season and she hasn't lost a school sanctioned match since the seventh grade. A lot of that has to do with her 113 mile-per-hour serve; but that's just part of her game.
"Her movement is just second to none," Century coach Nick Crossley said. "The way that she moves around the court, the way that she's running circles around her opponents out there."
This embed is invalid
To see the tennis brackets and singles schedules, check out the Minnesota State High School League right here.
On top of her incredible ability on the court, Aney is about to graduate one year ahead of schedule, the Pioneer Press reports.
