Shchupak wins singles, doubles

Ana Shchupak, a senior accounting major, was the first tennis player at GC&SU to win the class A flight doubles and the class A flight singles championships in the same year at the 13th Annual Fall Championships, which were held on Oct. 9.

Shchupak said that it was hard to believe that she had won.

“I hardly had strength to walk on the court, but then I started winning, and I thought I actually could do it,” Shchupak said.

Women’s tennis Head Coach Steve Barsby has known Shchupak since January 2003, when she joined the team.

“She worked really hard,” Barsby said. “The girl she beat in the final was number six in the country.”

Sophomore Anna Davidsson, an international business major, has known Shchupak as a teammate and a roommate.

“I thought she played really well, and she definitely deserved it because she’s been working hard,” Davidsson said.

Shuchupak said she did not feel pressure to have to live up to her new titles.

“I felt more nervous before the tournament than now. It’s like you proved to yourself that you can do it, so it makes you more comfortable,” Shchupak said.

Since the age of nine, Shchupak has been holding a tennis racket. Her family, who live in her home country of Uzbekistan, encouraged her to play tennis.

“My parents were big fans,” Shchupak said. “They wanted me to play, so that’s why I started playing tennis. (Tennis) was my life.”

Barsby said Shchupak has contributed greatly to the team.

“She came in as a freshman on our team, and our team that year ended up getting to the national semi-finals,” Barsby said. “She was the only player we added in January of that year, which pretty much made the difference of us getting that far that year. She could become an All-American, which would mean being in the top 20 in the country.”

Shchupak is modest about her talents and treats the game of tennis with a light heart.

“I’m not trying to put too much pressure on (the game),” Shchupak said. “I’m just doing it to enjoy it, to have fun, to do my best.”

Shchupak said she has had fun playing on the tennis team at GC&SU.

“You can meet different people,” Shchupak said. “We have all international (students) on our team, so we talk about different countries.”

Even with the stresses of school and sports, Shchupak keeps an optimistic outlook on challenges she may face.

“I think everyone can adjust to any situation,” Shchupak said. “Everything is possible.”

With this attitude, Shchupak has made a lot of things possible in her life, according to Barsby.

“She is a very loyal, hard worker. Someone who knows what she wants, (she) is very dedicated and is very organized,” Barsby said. “She does what she needs to do to be successful.”

Davidsson said Shchupak has the ambition she needs to succeed.

“She’s a fighter. She’s always there if you need help, and she’s a very good listener,” Davidsson said.

Shchupak does not see herself as a professional tennis player in the future; she plans to pursue a career in accounting instead. She said her success on and off the court comes from trusting her abilities.

“You just have to believe in yourself,” Shchupak said. “If you believe in yourself and you work hard, you can achieve any goal that you set.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 21 2005. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry