Valeska Hoath
(Kevin Kadooka -- The Beacon)
By Joanna Goodwin, Staff Writer -- goodwin12@up.edu
Sophomore Valeska Hoath grew up in Queensland, Australia and is now deep into a fulfilling experience with the UP Women's Tennis Team.
When did you start playing tennis?
When I was about seven and my older sister played. I got dragged to a lot of tournaments, so I decided I should play too.
Did you play through school or through club teams?
I'm from Australia, so back home it's kind of like individual tournaments. Once you get into high school you can play team tennis, but it's not that popular. So most of it is separate and individual.
How did you hear about UP?
My sister went to St. Mary's so basically through her. She said that this was the only other school in the conference that seemed nice. I also pursued St. Mary's and they recommended me to the coaches at UP.
How often do you get to go back to Australia?
This past Christmas, I went back and this summer I'll go back, but I probably won't for future Christmases because it is really expensive.
Do you like singles or doubles more in tennis matches?
Growing up, I always liked doubles more, but I'm starting to like singles more here because it's just different. Playing on a team and playing with the pressure of doubles is a lot different than playing back home. Doubles is more fun back home. Here it is more important, but I still like both.
How do the coaches pair you up for doubles matches?
It's mainly about different game styles and different people play better together. We've got sisters on the team and they play well together.
Outside of matches, how do you guys come together as a team?
Outside of matches we hang out a lot. Most of the team gets dinner together and we have different classes and we hang out most of the weekends as well.
Who is your team's biggest competition this season?
We played the Oregon Ducks and that was one of our biggest rivals because (teammate) Sabine Fuchs transferred (to UP) from there, and they are a really obnoxious team. And our biggest rival conference wise would probably be Gonzaga because it's a home match, our only conference home match and nobody really likes Gonzaga.
