Diary

Jamie
Chan

Past Entries

May 11, 2005

In the finals of the NCAA sub-regional tournament, the Emory Eagles soared over the Rhodes Lynx, earning a spot in the quarterfinals of the NCAA national tournament.

The weather was hot and the air was filled with excited cheers from both sides. We knew that Rhodes would come out fired up, so we began our warmup with a team huddle and a robust "Emory!" cheer. Armed with ribbons in our hair and smiles on our faces, we might have looked like just another tennis team to the casual observer.

However, inside each of us was the intense desire to win -- and win with conviction. The doubles matches went well and we secured two points from our wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. At No. 3 doubles, Lindsay and Indu took their opponents to a tough tiebreaker during which there were many hard-fought points and nail-biting put-away volleys, but they fell just short of claiming the win. With the team score at 2-1, we knew that we had to buckle down in the singles matches and stay focused.

Serena and Linda trounced their opponents and brought the score to a commanding 4-1 lead. However, both Richie and Carina were unable to overcome their worthy opponents and finally succumbed to defeat after many exhilarating points. Now, the score was 4-3 with two matches still in progress.

All we needed was a win from either Indu or I for our team to move on to the national quarterfinals. I won my first set, but was trailing 1-5 in the second set. However, I rallied back to go up 6-5, but lost the set in a tight tiebreaker. Determined to secure a spot for our team at nationals, I kept telling myself to push on and "leave it all on the court."

I went up to a quick 4-0 lead in the third set, but was so dehydrated that both my legs cramped up and I was unable to take another step. Sheri, our wonderful trainer, and Coach Amy rushed onto the court to massage my legs and get them moving again. Their massage gave me a slight reprieve from the pain, and I continued with the match, hobbling to every ball I could reach.

Unfortunately, cramps aren't like lightning…they DO strike the same place twice. On the court next to me, Indu was trying to keep her match alive by fighting off multiple match points against her when she too started cramping up. I thought, "Oh no! We can't lose the match like this!"

When Indu went down, I heard someone on the opposing team say, "Don't let her get to you!" I thought, "Do they really think we're faking our cramps?! Who would want to fake having cramps?"

However, just as the wind is known as the "great equalizer" in tennis, so are cramps. Shortly after Indu started cramping, my opponent also started cramping and was suffering from heat exhaustion. Sheri, who was understandably stressed out, told one of the umpires that if the fourth player started cramping, he would have to call 9-1-1 because there was no way she would be able to take care of all four players.

Thankfully, Indu's opponent did not start cramping. Finally, after three long hours, my singles match was over – I won the match with a backhand winner and secured our place in the national quarterfinals!

However, there was no time for celebration after the match because Indu, my opponent - Hennessy, and I were sent to the training room so that Sheri could monitor our fatigued condition. Hennessy was taken to the E.R. because she was overheated and suffering from full body cramping. Indu and I were told that we couldn't leave the training room until we urinated, proving that we were somewhat hydrated.

However, after sitting in the training room for more than an hour drinking water and Pedialyte, Indu and I were taken to the E.R. because we still weren't hydrated enough and our condition had worsened. Sheri drove us to the E.R. where we received two bags of saline solution through an I.V.

Sheri, Mary Ellen Gordon, Lindsay, and Coach Amy stayed with us throughout the night until we were finally released from the hospital feeling 100 percent better than when we entered. After six hours of tennis, one and a half hours in the training room, and four hours in the E.R., we were finally headed back to our comfortable dorm rooms.

As we were walking back, I realized that Indu and I ended the day as we began it – our ribbons were still in our hair (if not slightly askew), we were still wearing our tennis uniforms, and we each had a smile on our face. However, one thing was different…our team had a hard fought victory over Rhodes and a spot in the NCAA national quarterfinals! Kalamazoo, here we come!

I would like to thank everyone who cheered us on during the match and helped us recover afterwards. There is never a dull moment in the life of an Emory women's tennis player. I'm looking forward to sharing more exciting and interesting experiences with my teammates.

Hopefully, one of those experiences will be winning nationals for the third year in a row. Stayed tuned for more news from Kalamazoo!

Jamie Chan is a junior from Lakeland, Fla. She would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.