Mia Horvit - South Carolina Tennis

“It was supposed to be my last year wearing the Gamecock jersey. As a senior and team captain, we had a group of nine girls. Five of them were freshmen. Instilling the culture and laying out the foundation for a young team was difficult in the beginning. It was special last year to be ranked as high as 3 in the nation and winning the SEC championship was something special.”

“Even though we had a different team, we were on our way to prove something. We battled and lost some early on, but it’s not how you start it’s how you finish. This year we were undefeated in the SEC regular season. Things started to turn around for us, but all of a sudden, everything was cancelled.” 

“At that moment, championships were gone and I realized that my college career was over. As a student-athlete, you work day in and day out to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Thrilling matches, bus rides as a team, and all the opportunities we had were suddenly gone.”

“To have something taken away from you like that definitely put me in a mix of emotions. Luckily the NCAA came to terms and decided to give all spring student-athletes an extra year of eligibility. I hope that seniors do take this chance and are grateful for what’s in front of them, because you never know when it could all be done.”