Kelly Vanden bringing passion, leadership to State College girls’ tennis

Kelly Vanden possessed a passion for tennis before she was even strong enough to hold a full-sized racket in her hand.

She was so ardent about the sport from an early age that she had her parents throw her a tennis-themed party for her 4th birthday. That’s not such a typical request from a pre-schooler, but Vanden isn’t a typical player, either.

The State College junior owns more than two dozen career wins in high school matches. Last year she went 9-0 in the regular season and didn’t drop a single set along the way.

Vanden came in as a freshman in 2015 and immediately jumped into the No. 1 singles slot. She has faced the opposing teams’ best players in every match of her high school career, but that hasn’t fazed her one bit.

“It’s hard to gain respect from the seniors and the juniors that were on varsity for me taking the No. 1 spot, so I think I gained that respect early on and I think I’ve kept that for the past three years,” Vanden said. “Now I’ve established myself as the leader among the team, especially for some of the younger girls.”

State College was desperate for leadership coming into the 2017 season with such a young team. The squad has eight freshmen and no seniors on varsity. Vanden was thrust into the main leadership role, and she has taken it in stride.

“Kelly’s not afraid to speak up,” head coach Jane Borden said. “She knows what the expectations are on this team. She understands the philosophy, and she’s willing to try and get the other kids on board and work as a team. She’s not a real big individual player.”

Vanden thrives when she can keep a rally on her forehand. She has impeccable accuracy with it, and she loves to paint the lines and run her opponent around the court.

“The best part of my game is when someone hits a weak second serve right to my forehand, and I can pretty much nail it down the line to their backhand, because backhand usually is the weaker shot for players,” Vanden said.

Another strength of Vanden’s game is her stamina. When she is able to turn a match into a track meet, she will come out on top every time. Vanden runs track for State College in the spring, which she says helps her last longer than her opponents before getting tired and losing accuracy.

But it’s not just her athleticism that helps her on the court; it’s her experience. She played in her first tournament was she was just 8 years old and, as a high school freshman, she played in various United States Tennis Association tournaments.

Her preparation is second to none — and that is helped even further by the fact her sparring partner happens to be her older brother Nick, the No. 1 singles player on the boys’ team.

He usually wins when the siblings go at it on the court, but Vanden said playing against him prepares her exceptionally well for matches.

Off the court, Vanden has a passion for biology and medicine. She’s currently taking advanced molecular and cellular biology in school.

Vanden wants to major in biology in college and follow in her parents’ footsteps by becoming a professor — but she probably won’t follow them to Penn State.

Vanden wants to head west for college where tennis can be played outdoors almost every day of the year. She has family in Santa Barbara, Calif., and her dream school is UCLA, where she might play on the club team.

State College holds an 8-4 record on the year. Vanden said her goal this season is to win a district championship as a team and individually.

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 8:22 PM with the headline "Kelly Vanden bringing passion, leadership to State College girls’ tennis."