As her last season of tennis nears its final stretch, NC State senior Taylor Zaytoun is poised to serve.
A competitor in both singles and doubles play, Zaytoun has played a key role in the Wolfpack tennis program.
However, prior to picking up tennis full swing, Zaytoun attempted a few other endeavors.
“I started playing tennis when I was 12 years old,” Zaytoun said. “The reason was because I had five male cousins [who played tennis]. At the time, I was playing golf like my older brother and swimming like my older sister, but I wasn’t too happy about it. I saw my cousins playing tennis and thought I’d give it a shot. Ever since then, that’s the sport I’ve stuck with.”
After deciding to remain on the courts, the Raleigh native began competing in the United States Tennis Association and worked industriously toward earning the opportunity to play at the collegiate level.
“I only played two years in high school for the team,” Zaytoun said. “[However], I was heavily involved outside [of school] with the USTA and played tournaments in the area. At the time that I was looking at different schools, I had a couple of options to go to smaller Division I schools and play.”
After looking into NC State, Zaytoun realized the university suited her academic and athletic talents.
“At the time, I was working with the men’s assistant coach at NC State and he urged me to possibly walk on at NC State,” Zaytoun said. “I took a tour of NC State in general and realized that the College of Textiles was what I wanted to learn about and develop in that area of my career, academically. That really pushed me to make an effort and try to walk on the team here. I’m thankful [I was] given the opportunity to do so.”
Being a part of the tennis team at NC State has certainly proven to be a challenge. The team completes rigorous workouts in the fall that prepares it for an almost year-round competition circuit.
“Our heavy training season is during the fall,” Zaytoun said. “We have four tournaments in the fall that [help] prepare us for competition in the spring. This year, we worked in the weight room four days a week, doing lifting and conditioning, on top of two hours of tennis a day. Hopefully, all of the training in the fall will prepare us for the ACC season in the spring.”
So far, the team’s 2016 campaign has proved fruitful. Currently, the team sits at (12-10, 4-8 ACC). With at least four more matches to play, the team has already garnered more victories this season than all of last year when the team finished (11-16, 1-13 ACC).
Competing in arguably the most challenging women’s collegiate tennis conference, the Wolfpack is fighting hard and vying for a ticket to compete in the NCAA tournament.
“We have a lot of goals, but the main goal is to make it to the NCAA tournament and advance,” Zaytoun said.
“One thing about this team, and why we are where we are, is that [we have] a lot of fight. That’s gotten us to where we are. The ACC is one of the best conferences in women’s college tennis. We never have an easy match, but these girls on our team want it more than anything. I think that’s helped us get to where we are this year.”
Looking toward her last few weeks as a part of Wolfpack women’s tennis, Zaytoun hopes to leave her mark on the program as a dedicated leader.
“Going into this year, I had two goals,” Zaytoun said. “One of my main goals is to be the best leader I can possibly be. We have a really young team with five underclassmen. I’ve been through this. It’s my fourth year, so I try to help guide them through what it’s like to play in the ACC, as well as [how to excel] academically here at NC State. I’ve tried to help guide them along the best path possible.”
With her abundance of knowledge and guidance, Zaytoun is poised to lead and end her career on a positive note.
