With its top two players graduating this spring, the Penn State women's tennis team will be looking in the offseason to see who will be taking over the reins of leadership in the future.
That future could already be here in the form of Jenny Shular.
Shular, a freshman from Peachtree City, Ga., has been tearing through opponents on the Nittany Lions' schedule all season long. Playing in the No. 6 spot, Shular has lost just twice in 14 matches, with both of those losses coming in tight three-set matches. She was also a key for the Lions' victory against Ohio State Sunday, winning both of her singles and doubles matches.
"I've been impressed with her ability to just do what it takes to win the
point," Penn State coach Buffy Baker said.
Throughout high school, Shular found a high level of success as a member of her school's team and in USTA events. A No. 1 player for all four years of high school, Shular traveled to Penn State on the last of her college visits. She knew immediately that State College was the place she wanted to continue her playing career but kept her excitement low-key because Baker hadn't initially offered a scholarship.
Once the offer finally did come, though, Shular knew what her decision was but hesitated on the advice of her parents.
"I wanted to call [Baker] right back, but my parents were like, 'Why don't you sleep on it?' " Shular said. "So I called her the next day."
Once the season began in the fall for the Lions, it took Shular some time to adapt to the new level of competition. As the top player all through high school, fighting to just be in the lineup was an adjustment for Shular.
She quickly found her place, though, and Baker saw that her strong baseline game and gritty nature would allow her to be successful.
"I thought she was going to do well coming in," Baker said. "She has a mentality of knowing how to dig points out. You can't teach that; that's just something she has."
Any fall jitters Shular might have experienced were seemingly long gone by the start of the season in January. She dropped only five games in her first two singles matches and went on to win eight in a row, her first loss coming in a third-set tiebreaker at Purdue.
With a booming forehand, Shular plays a steady baseline game that allows her to wear down opponents and force them to make errors. Though her backhand is significantly weaker than her forehand, she has been able to work around this weakness and find ways to finish points with the forehand.
Shular's tenacious mentality has also been one of the keys to her success this season. Both Shular and Baker attest that she hasn't been playing her greatest tennis so far this season, but she always finds a way to pull out a win.
An example of this toughness came in the Lions' March 13 match against Indiana. Shular was down 2-5 in the first set of her singles match, but tied things and sent the first set to a tiebreaker. After being down several set points in the breaker, Shular again held her ground and somehow pulled out the set. She then dropped the second set but found a way to dig deep and roll through the final set, 6-2.
"It's not always pretty, it has not been pretty this semester, but I find a way to get another ball in the court," Shular said. "That's basically what it comes down to."
Now that the Lions have their first conference win of the season, Shular and the team said that they have the momentum to excel in the remainder of the season.
Strong play from Shular will be a necessary element for the team to continue its good fortune. While her success this season wasn't expected to this degree, Shular now has to confidence to expect to win this season and in the future.
"[My winning streak] started to surprise me when it went for a long time, a pretty good period," Shular said. "It's just a matter in my mind of, I can't let my team down."
