Kayla Lei

Sophomore

• Placed 12th at state with an overall score of 26-11
• Placed second at regionals and at league
• Scored 3-1 at the Emporia Invitational and at the Topeka West Invitational

What inspired you to become an athlete?

My dad’s always had a passion for tennis himself, so ever since we were really little, he incorporated tennis into me and my older sister’s lives. Every day over every passing summer my whole family would go out to public tennis courts and enjoy tennis and exercising together so I really liked doing that, and as I watched my sister go through her own middle school and high school tennis seasons, I knew that I wanted to be as successful yet gracious as she had been and carry on to live up to the sort of legacy that she had created.

Are there any challenges that you’ve faced this season?

Yeah, at the beginning of the season, it was a bit of an adjustment to make when we realized that our seniors from last year had officially gone and two new freshmen came up instead. That was just a team aspect of it that took some time for us… to learn to support this new group of people while going through the everyday practices without those seniors from last year that did such a good job of making me feel welcome.

In terms of playing, I’ve been doing ok as I haven’t had any injuries or events that would affect my performance on the court… I’m also really glad that our efforts have been noticed and we were able to get enough support to host our home meet at the K-State courts, which really was a great and empowering experience…

Going into State, are there any other goals that you have for this season?

I really hope to make it to the second day of state.