Jamie Lee ’19 & Avery Pak ’20
Varsity tennis player Lia Robbins ‘19 was chosen as the October Girls Athlete of the Month.
Robbins is a four year varsity tennis player and is currently co-team captain. She been playing tennis for nine years and joined the sport after her dad, a high school tennis player, influenced her to play with her siblings as a child.
She is one of the five seniors on varsity; nonetheless, the positive attitude she exudes is especially appreciated by her fellow teammates.
“Lia is everyone’s greatest cheerleader and pump up woman!” said varsity tennis player Sam Noh ‘20. “She can take someone who’s feeling down in the dumps and make them happy.”
Robbins feels “very honored and delighted” to have been chosen as October’s Girls Athlete of the month, and her greatests achievements include “being on varsity for four years and playing singles for two of them.”
One of Robbins’ notable characteristics is her ability to move past losses in a way that unites the team and allows them to improve.
“She never lets anyone say sorry for missing or apologize for losing,” said Noh. “She understands better than anyone that we are a team and we win and lose together, not individually.”
The girls were on a long, successful run in the CIF playoffs; however, they barely lost to the top ranking team in the semifinals.
“I was disappointed we didn’t make it to the finals, but this is the first season where we ever even got close, so I’m glad that we had the best season my last year,” said Robbins.
Robbins exhibits qualities that characterize her as a team player.
“Even at CIF team playoffs, she felt that we might do better as a team if she was not in the line up against this one particular team, that’s how she sacrificed for the team, said Coach Scott Yasgoor.
During the team’s win streak, Robbins was one of the main contributors to the continual wins and minimal losses.
“She had an uncanny ability to not only lengthen out points, and by doing so, rarely missed,” said Yasgoor. “She played very well defensively and her athleticism allowed her to chase down balls to keep points going. As a result of her defense, her opponents would typically get frustrated and miss first, allowing her to ultimately win matches.”
In college, Robbins chooses to focus mainly on academics and does not plan to join a tennis team. However, in her high school tennis career, Robbins serves as one of the key players and mentors for her team members.
“She’s … the big sister of the team,” said Noh. “We all know we can count on her for whatever we need.”