Senior Stella Bourbon competed in the Farmington International tournament for a top-three placement in her bracket on Sep. 20.
Even in the 100-degree heat, Bourbon went out there and played her match. The final score was nine to seven, leaving Bourbon with second place in her bracket. “I started my sophomore year because I had no interest in other sports. Mueller approached me one day and told me I should try tennis, so I figured why not?”
“There were six schools there including us and I had to sit out the first two rounds, then I played a Farmington girl, which that school has always been pretty good at tennis. I was the only one that day to beat a Farmington girl, so that felt like a pretty good accomplishment. While playing her it was back to back to back on points and I ended up winning that match, which was eight to five,” said senior Stella Bourbon. After a hard first match, she went on to play the next girl to win either first or second place. That match resulted in Bourbon winning second with a score of seven to nine.
“Stella has been a great tennis team member for three years. She is a true testament to how one’s hard work pays off. She has never complained when asked to accept whatever role is best for the team. One of the best things that she does is keep things in perspective. Stella always finds the positive in any situation and usually does so with a smile on her face. I will miss not having her around the tennis team after this year,” said Coach Muller. Mueller had nothing but good words to say about Bourbon, he loves that she put in the work and was in the varsity lineup after a hard sophomore and junior season.
When she was first thinking about joining tennis she was afraid of not succeeding, she went out there for the first practice not knowing anything, but didn’t quit after that one bad day. Sure, she was upset that she wasn’t as skilled as the other girls, but she didn’t give up and returned to the next practice to better herself and be just as good as the other girls. Bourbon went from not knowing anything her sophomore year to ending up second in her bracket in this tournament. Bourbon hopes to finish her senior season on a high note.
