Baldwin standout loves team
Tri-State Sports & News Service
BethanyYauch wants to make onething perfectly clear.
She will be playing tennis Baldwinthis season.
“Honestly, I want to represent my school. I love playing team tennis and I love my school and playing on a team,” Yauch said. “It’s only three months out of the year and I can concentrate on playing national tournaments any other time, but I just love playingon a team.”
That may seem like a foregone conclusion, but this year has seen a slew of players decide not to play high school tennis and opt instead for taking part in USTA tournaments.
Earlier this summer, Marlo Schiffman, the No. 4-ranked junior in the state, decided not to come out and play for Upper St. Clair where she was the Panthers’ No. 1 singles player. CharlotteJames of Fox Chapel, the No. 2 junior in the state and a twotime WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A doubles champion, also decided to take a one-year hiatus during what is usually a huge recruiting year to concentrate on regional and national tournaments in an effortto improve her ranking.
Most recently, North Allegheny junior Rebekah Rest, the Tigers’ No. 3 singles player and No. 6 in her class in the state, made her choice not to play for the defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A champions to play tournamenttennis.
It’s what makes Yauch’s position on playing for her high schoolsomewhat surprising.
“Charlotte James, I know she opted out because there’s a lot of national tournaments right now, but playing on a team is so much fun,” Yauch said. “Schools can’t talk to me until Sept. 1, but I have been on tennisrecruiting.net and I have seen what schools have been looking at me and I know Villanova has looked at me a lot and Utah State and Cleveland Statehave emailed me as well.”
Yauch made a splash as a freshman in 2016 when she went to the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals as a freshman but did not play most of the season last year after having an appendectomy. Coming back from surgery has been difficult, but her game may finally be rounding back into form.
“This year we’ve already played matches and I think I’ve been playing really good,” Yauch said.“I have the potential to do reallywell at WPIALs and states.”
Though it may help that the field has thinned a bit because of all the players not competing this year — North Allegheny sophomore Ava Catanzarite, the 2017 WPIAL runner-up, is out for the season with a shoulder injury — there are still several players who would provide a challenge including defending state championAshley Huang of North Allegheny.
“I know that I don’t have a lot of contenders because Marlo Schiffman isn’t playing and Charlotte and Ava and a lot of people have graduated,” Yauch said. “But I really want to win WPIALs and go as far as I can at states.” for