Kaysie Hermsdorf, junior Houston native, set an undefeated 7-0 record during this year’s season opener at the Indiana Winter Invitational, where she was awarded Player of the Week from the Southland Conference.
Hermsdorf dominated in singles and doubles against big schools in Indiana, Wisconsin and Oregon, but for her, the award came right out of the blue.
“I looked and I was really surprised,” Hermsdorf said. “I didn’t think much about it. I know I did well at the tournament, but I was just shocked.”
Hermsdorf won both her singles matches against a senior from Indiana, and all-BIG EAST honoree from Marquette. In doubles, she and partner, senior Brittney Reed, went a total of 5-0.
Though it’s been a while since Hermsdorf and Reed have played doubles together, the two have already started to play together better than ever.
“Playing doubles with Kaysie has been so much fun,” Reed said. “We are starting to learn each other’s games better and mesh on the court. I’m excited to see how things will play out during the season.”
Hermsdorf’s love for the sport started at a young age and had a lot to do with her family.
The Houston native came to ACU following in the footsteps of her older sister, Micah, who graduated in 2014. Both sisters share the same passion for tennis and have been named Player of the Week by the Southland Conference.
Hermsdorf’s father started her playing tennis at 3 years old. She played up until fifth grade, when she decided to take up soccer. Going into high school, she went back to tennis and made the choice to stick with it.
Since then, her main focus and goal has to been to better herself as a player and team leader.
“I think we have a really good team personality-wise and strength-wise,” Hermsdorf said. “We are good from top to bottom, so I’m really excited to see where we go. I think this weekend will be a little easier for us, but that means we can just work on different aspects of our play to get better.”
The women’s tennis team has been known to be a strong and successful program. Student-athletes go into the program, excel and come out sharper.
Hermsdorf is one of those athletes.
During her career at ACU, Hermsdorf has earned a great amount of victories and successes for the tennis program and has helped shape other athletes in the making while improving her own game.
Going into spring season, Hermsdorf has felt confident and more prepared than ever.
“In the summer, I did more strength training and tried to build more muscle so I could be better on the court, which helped a lot because I felt like I was physically more able to take the power that the other girls had and use it to my advantage,” she said. “I felt like this year, overall, I was more prepared.”
