“Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” These words uttered by former North Carolina State Wolfpack basketball coach, Jim Valvano, echoed to athletes of all sports and served as a motivating message. One such athlete’s “never-quit” attitude will bring them to the University of Minnesota, next fall. Taking her talents to Minneapolis next school year, is All-State senior tennis player Annie Emme. According to her father, Rob, this message is a lesson that he has instilled in Annie as well as the rest of her siblings.
“What we have stressed in our household is battling through adversity,” Rob said. “I have been very proud of her having [fought through] a strained stomach muscle and a strained back. She fights through pain and she’s just a warrior on the court.”
According to Annie, she first picked up the racquet at age four but was introduced to a lot of sports as a kid. One of the many sports was baseball, where she was often the only girl on the team. She credits the sport for helping her develop as a tennis player. She eventually stuck with tennis due to her skill as well as some family influence.
“My uncle is a pro at the Glenview Tennis Club, and I would always go and hit with him,” Annie said. “My dad played [at South] and they were always big on tennis, and I decided that I wanted to go with a sport pretty far.” Annie believes that one of her biggest influences during her high school career was former South tennis player Caroline Ryba, who went on to play at the University of Minnesota, and will be reunited with Annie next fall as teammates for the Golden Gophers. According to Annie, she has known Ryba throughout her tennis career and credits Ryba with helping to bridge the gap from middle school to high school.
“Coming into high school, it was awesome knowing [Ryba],” Annie said. “She taught me so much, because we are totally opposites and our games are totally different.”
One of her most memorable moments was facing off against Ryba in the sectional match last year, Annie said. The match lasted three sets and was eventually won by Annie, propelling her to her third state meet in three years. “We were the only ones on the court, and it was dead silent,” Annie said. “The team didn’t know what to do, because they didn’t know to cheer for a certain person so they kind of cheered whenever someone hit a really good shot.”
This year, Annie came in 12th in the state series for singles. Although she expected a better finish, Annie had another obstacle to overcome when she came down with a high fever the second day of the tournament. Despite this, she never had any doubt that she was going to play on her final day of her high school tennis career.
“I was going to play no matter what,” Annie said. “I didn’t even think about not playing. I just look back on all the four years and I saw that I had a pretty good four years and I tried not to dwell on the negatives.”
Last January, Annie made a verbal commitment to the University of Minnesota. She admits that the decision was tough and mostly based her choice off of the quality of the coaching staff there, but she is also looking forward to some of the bonuses that come with the Minneapolis atmosphere.
Stephanie Mats, varsity tennis coach, expected a great finish to Annie’s very successful high school tennis career. In Mats’ limited time with her, Annie exceeded any expectations Mats had of her.
“I [expected] her to be really strong [in the state series],” Mats said. “I just [wanted] her to have a really great last hurrah for her senior year. Right away, I saw that she was really good and she has proven that she is even better than I thought she was in the beginning.”
