For The Tribune

Jordan Trowbridge has played both singles and doubles during the past three years as a member of the Brownstown Central tennis team, and for her, it’s hard to pick a favorite as to which she likes best.

Last spring Trowbridge played No. 2 doubles and her partner was Jenny Runge.

Trowbridge played some junior varsity singles matches her freshman and sophomore years.

“I really enjoy singles,” she said. “I might try singles this year. I don’t know yet. In singles all you have to rely on is yourself, but you know where you can be.

“In doubles, there is a lot of trust with your partner because you’re not always going to be on one side of the court or the other. It’s a lot of switching. In singles you don’t have to rely on anybody, but in doubles it’s more your fault if you lose no matter what.

“In doubles, I prefer the right side because I’m better at forehands than backhands. I don’t like the net. In singles I would much rather volley it out.”

Trowbridge said that while it is nice to win the first set, if you lose you have to have the confidence that you can come back and win.

“If you’re really confident about that first set then it will go to the second or even the third set,” she said. “If you start down on the first set it’s kind of a mix-or-match whether you’re happy throughout the rest match or if you’re down on yourself.

“Tennis is a really mental game. If you get down on yourself no matter how hard you try, you won’t win. It’s very unlikely. You really have to be in a good mental state because of all the strategy that goes into tennis.”

The senior’s serving has come a long way since she started in middle school.

“I look back at my sixth grade year and I cringe a little bit,” Trowbridge said of her serves. “My serves have really improved over the years. I try for a hard, overhead. If I’m feeling really good about it I’ll try a spin.”

Trowbridge, who began her tennis career in sixth grade, said she prefers warm days with no wind.

“The wind is evil, it’s a very evil spirit,” Trowbridge said. “It’s a real roll of the dice to get the wind on your side. You really have to adjust, like if you’re hitting to the left side you have to make sure you’re hitting it more to the right side than you would if there was no wind.

“If the wind is really hard on your back, then you have to hit a lot easier or else it will go flying. If you hit it soft on one side, and the wind is against you, it will never make it over.”

In matches, she said you have to concentrate on your opponents during warm ups.

“We really try to figure out what hand they’re hitting with,” Trowbridge said. “If they’re a left-handed person we normally don’t see that and it really throws us a curve ball when we’re playing them.”

She said she is hoping for a successful senior season.

“I really want to work harder,” Trowbridge said. “I’m really focused on tennis this year. I’m ready to get into it. I’m ready to run only two laps in practice instead of three or four we run during conditioning.”

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Name: Jordan Trowbridge

Parents: Timothy and Sherri Trowbridge

Siblings: Sierra, Dakota

Sports: tennis 4 years

Organizations: National Honor Society, musical, president of FFA

Plans after high school: attend Indiana State University, study communications and theater

Favorite food: Cheez-It crackers and Gatorade

Favorite TV show: “Yu-Gi-Oh”

Favorite musicians: Panic at the Disco

Favorite movie: “Phantom of the Opera”

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Q: What’s the tennis schedule like?

A: “Most of the time we have two matches a week when we really get into the season, but there are weeks where we have three or four matches and it’s just a hectic schedule and you get really tired out.”

Q: What’s your most memorable match?

A: “Last year in doubles varsity my partner and I lost a set. We really had to come back in the third set and I hurt my back, but we ended up winning and it was good to see that because a lot of the time it will be 1-1 and we’ll go into three sets and lose by a point or two, and it’s really heartbreaking to see that.”

Q: Do you enjoy attending BCHS?

A: “I really love the atmosphere. Everyone thinks high school is going to be a lot stricter, but it’s a lot more lax, and it’s a lot more fun seeing your friends between classes. I think I’m going to remember the musical most. I started musical last year and I’m in it this year and we really form a family in the dressing rooms and on stage. It’s a lot of fun.”

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