“The first time I played tennis it was just amazing, I loved it right away. There was never any moment where I didn’t love it. I still do. I just loved the fact that it was so independent,” said senior Lauren Wolfe.

When Wolfe first began playing tennis 12 years ago, she had no clue that the she would place second individually in MCALs her senior year or that her team would win it her junior year.

“I started playing tennis because I had just been around it my whole life. My mom would play tennis and I would always be at the tennis club with her,” Wolfe said. “I would say that my mom was the one that influenced me. She never forced me into it. It was my own decision.”

Wolfe has always been surrounded by the sport and used to accompany her mother to her tennis lessons. However, Wolfe’s coach Jim Bedilion, her mother’s instructor, first encouraged her to play the sport.

“He’s been with me since I was little, because he was the one who would give my mom lessons. I would always run around the court picking up balls for her, during her lessons and then one day he said ‘Oh, Lauren do you want to try it?’” Wolfe said.

Wolfe credits much of her success to Bedilion because he has been her coach throughout her entire career. Although her success has not been overnight, she has always excelled in the sport.

“When I was little it came pretty naturally to me. I was always playing with the older kids, above my age expectations,” she said.

Though Wolfe showed an early talent for tennis, she didn’t start playing exclusively until she quit playing soccer in sixth grade to concentrate on tennis.

“My coach was there, so I would either hit with him one-on-one privately or in his clinic or hit with other older kids, and adults sometimes too. I was just there everyday,” she said. “I would walk over from my elementary [or] middle school after school because it was a five- or 10-minute walk. It was so convenient.”

During high school, Wolfe played on the Redwood varsity team and played in summer leagues as well as in United States Tennis Association tournaments.

One of Wolfe’s fondest memories is a match she played her sophomore year against Branson. She was playing in the last game, with the overall score tied at four all––whoever won the set would win the match.

“I was down 5-4 in the second set and I was three points away from losing the match, but I ended up winning that set 7-5 and then it was too dark to finish our match that day. We had to come back on Friday [three days later] just to play a ten point tiebreaker, which would decide not only our individual match but the overall game,” Wolfe said.

After waiting three days, Wolfe was able to beat her opponent in the tiebreaker, winning the match.

Though Wolfe has been able to perform well at Redwood, tennis hasn’t always been easy for her. In eighth grade she tore ligaments in her ankle and couldn’t play for six months.

“Just coming back, those initial three months were hard because I would get upset with myself, but at the same time I couldn’t hold myself to such a high expectation because I was out for so long,” Wolfe said. “It was frustrating but there was nothing I could do”

Next year Wolfe will play D1 tennis for UC Riverside, playing in the Big West conference. After committing in December, she is incredibly excited for the experience.

“Because tennis is such an individual sport, college creates the atmosphere and you are able to become really close [as a team], which is unique because tennis is such an individual game,” she said.

Wolfe cannot imagine her life without intensive tennis practice, though she still finds time to meet with friends.

“When I’m not playing tennis I don’t know what to do with myself. I get bored. I love the game,” Wolfe said. “Right now I’m on a women’s 18+ team which is all adults, and you can play that for the rest of your life. I will probably play that after college for fun.”

Wolfe also coaches tennis for a 12-and-under team biweekly, though she prefers playing to coaching.