The young guns of the Oregon women’s tennis team get ready to honor their lone senior this weekend when they host Washington State on Sunday at noon.
Senior Jamie Marshall is the last member of the tight-knit group that produced back-to-back 17-win seasons for coach Nils Schyllander over the last two years.
Now, All-Americans Courtney Nagle and Daria Panova are gone. Players like Ester Bak, Davina Mendiburu and Anna Leksinska, whom Marshall formed tight bonds with, have moved on.
The first roadblock Marshall had to overcome this season was just trying to adapt to a brand new team at the start of her senior year.
“In the beginning, it was a little bit of a struggle I’ll admit,” Marshall said. “Because you come out here and its just not the same as what you’re used to … I grew up with them (Mendiburu, Panova, Bak and company) ever since my freshman year. And it’s like everyone was just gone.”
Marshall soon formed new relationships with the Ducks corps of first-year players like Claudia Hirt, Ceci Olivos and Carmen Seremeta.
“The girls have all been awesome,” Marshall said. “And I feel like we’ve all forged a very close bond – everyone with each other.” She added that the team is traditionally very close-knit.
Then, in the middle of the preseason, Marshall broke her wrist during practice. Suddenly, the senior who had entered the season with a 27-37 overall win-loss record faced a long injury layoff and a hard climb to get back into the starting lineup in the middle of the season.
“The wrist injury definitely made things a lot tougher for me because I was out for like four months with no playing,” Marshall said. “And to try and fight back when everyone else had had four months of practice and playing and everything was definitely hard. And it was frustrating, especially because it was my last year.”
Marshall finally got on the court for the first time this season at the end of February against Eastern Washington.
The senior from Las Vegas, Nev., played doubles with Hirt and the pair won 8-5. In her singles match, Marshall dropped the first set 6-2, but battled back to take the second set 6-4.
That’s when her diabetes struck. She found out about her condition when she was 17 and has been battling the disease ever since.
At the end of her second set singles match against the Eagles, Marshall’s body cramped up and she had to pull out of the match.
“I just had to stop because my whole body went into cramps, and I couldn’t even hold the racket,” Marshall said.
Marshall hasn’t played a singles match since.
She says her diabetes is a condition that she’s learned to live with over the years.
“I’ve had about four matches (over the last four years) where my whole body went into cramps because my blood sugar got too high and it dehydrated me,”
Marshall said. “And there’s times in practice when I’m like ‘uh-oh, my blood sugar’s low, or high. And I need to sit.’ But for the most part I think I’ve done pretty good with the diabetes.”
Schyllander thinks so too.
“Jamie’s definitely made a huge impact on this program in terms of more than just wins or losses,” he said. “She’s dealing with some adversity being a diabetic, and just see what she has to go through to get herself ready to practice and play every day. I really do admire her and how she’s still competing at a really high level.”
Working through adversity is something Marshall has grown accustomed to. In her four years playing collegiate tennis, she’s been through more injuries than half the team combined.
“Gosh, you name it, I’ve done it,” Marshall said, laughing. “I’ve twisted my ankle really badly, I’ve had a cyst in my wrist – that’s now back again. I’ve had shin splints, and I’ve had shoulder problems. I had shoulder surgery when I was 16, so my right shoulder also always acts up too.”
In spite of all that, Marshall isn’t ready to hang up her racket yet.
Always looking ahead, she’s already secured a job as a tennis coach at the Salem Swim and Tennis Club.
“At this point, I feel like my body is ready to retire. But I still want to pass on the stuff that I know, and I want to stay active,” Marshall said. “I still love tennis. I’m ready to move on, but I still want to keep it in my life.”
Before she puts that plan into action, Marshall is ready for one more change in her life. In July, she’ll be getting married.
This year has been a disappointing one for Marshall so far, but things over the horizon are looking much brighter.
While Marshall and the women close the season in Eugene, the Oregon men’s tennis team heads to Seattle to close out the regular season against the Huskies Saturday.