An alumna of NC State’s women’s tennis team is trying to take her game to the professional level.

Joelle Kissell, who played tennis for the Wolfpack and graduated with a degree in communication, started a GoFundMe campaign in late December after trying to find a way to pay for a chance to play on the pro tour. She is currently working as an intern for Fox Sports Florida in Orlando and says she plans to play in every tournament she can after her internship.

Kissell said she was motivated to make the push for the next level after watching tournaments on television and seeing some familiar faces.

“I had just been watching the US Open and other big tournaments and saw people I had played doing well,” Kissell said. “It was just like, ‘You know what? I have that talent, so I should just give it a go.’”

According to Kissell, tennis has been a part of her life since she was two years old. 

“Once I could walk, I had a racket in my hands,” Kissell said. “It was kind of just in my blood from the beginning.”

While growing up in a family of tennis players, she said her mom’s coaching helped her feel the love and fun of the game from the beginning. According to Kissell, that love has fueled her game ever since.

As a member of the Wolfpack, she got the opportunity to play in the toughest collegiate conference for women’s tennis. The skill level of her opponents in the ACC ranged anywhere from national champions to participants in the US Open, according to Kissell.

In addition to playing some of the best players in the country, Kissell said the conditioning, coaching and support from her teammates helped her develop into the player she is today.

“I was so fortunate to come to NC State,” Kissell said. “It has elevated my game past what I could have imagined.”

According to Kissell, one of the biggest struggles she has faced while trying to go professional has been balancing practice time with her internship. Finding others to train with has also been a challenge, though she said she has been somewhat fortunate in this regard.

“There’s a girl who used to play for Georgia Tech who’s here [in Orlando] and she played on the pro tour last year, so she’s been a good person to hit with,” Kissell said.

She said she has also been signing up for upper-level tournaments in Florida with the hopes of getting in as an alternate.

“I don’t have a ranking yet, so I can’t really get into those [tournaments],” Kissell said. “But I’ve been going and signing up to be alternates and just haven’t been lucky yet.”

Hans Olsen, the former women’s tennis coach at NC State, is fully confident Kissell will break through to the next level.

“She’s got talent and she’s got an amazing work ethic,” Olsen said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that she will become one of the elite players in the world.”

Olsen was Kissell’s coach throughout her four-year career at NC State and noticed there was an intense pressure on her to succeed for the team during her freshman year.

“Her whole career, her team was her family,” Olsen said. “If she was in a match, she just wanted to win for her team so badly that it was just too much pressure.”

According to Olsen, that pressure would become confidence over the course of time.

“Between her second and her third year, that changed,” Olsen said. “You could see it when she was in the deciding match that her family became the reason why she felt more confident and more motivated.”

Ashley Miller, Olsen’s former doubles partner at NC State who graduated with a degree in program management, said Kissell was the type of player to play her hardest for every point, even if she was on the verge of losing.

“She has the intensity and the will to win,” Miller said. “I’ve never seen anyone play as hard as her.”

If you would like to make a donation, you can visit her GoFundMe page at http://www.gofundme.com/jojogoespro.