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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels April 9, 2004 AHS top singles player has tennis in her veins By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings People tend to grow out of the games they played as small children. They put away the Legos, stop building forts with a table and a sheet in the living room and give up kiddy pools as they grow up. Ashland High Sophomore Kayla Moyse swings a backhand during an early-season match. Moyse is Ashland's No. 1 singles player and should contend for a Southern Oregon Conference singles title this season. Satsuki Doi | Ashland Daily Tidings But Ashland High sophomore Kayla Moyse has stuck with one of those pastimes she picked up when she was three years old. Tennis. "I lived in Florida and that's where I got into tennis," Moyse said. "It was really big there." These days, tennis is really big for Moyse. Barely 16 years old - her birthday was in January - she reigns as the No. 1 singles player on the Grizzly squad and one of the top players in the Southern Oregon Conference. "She's done well this year," said Ashland coach Karl Carstensen. Though she lost one match last week to Ruth Lopez of Grants Pass, Moyse has put together a great start to her season. "But (Kayla has) beaten her before," Carstensen said. "I believe strongly that (Kayla) will be a top player in the conference." It started at home Moyse's dad picked up a tennis racket years ago, fell in love with the game and decided his daughter should be introduced to the sport as soon as she was ready. Moyse was three. It started with just hitting the ball around for fun back in Florida, and when her family made the trek westward to Klamath Falls, tennis came with them. But it wasn't until they came to Ashland three years ago that Moyse got serious about the sport. She and her dad played for recreation at the Ashland Racquet Club, where onlookers saw the skill Moyse had developed over the years. "I got noticed a little bit and I started taking lessons," Moyse said. "I've been playing competitively ever since." She still plays with her dad almost every day and spends up to three hours a day practicing. "I like athletics," she said, adding that she enjoys hiking and being in the outdoors, but she doesn't play any other organized sport. "I've just pretty much stuck with tennis." In spring, she plays on high school team, but she also takes private lessons year-round with pros in Medford to hone her skills. During the summer, she plays in local tournaments against the top junior players in the state. And on the weekends, she "plays all the time." "I really love it," Moyse said. "It's fun and I like the sound of the ball on the racquet." Exactly what Ashland needed Carstensen knew of Moyse because he had seen her play with her dad. He thought she had the right skills to develop into quite the tennis player. "When I first started watching her play, I had high expectations for her," he said. "You just think, 'Here's someone coming in with all the tools.'" Moyse attributes her skill to all of the time she puts in on the court. Not only is Moyse dedicated and talented, she's very coachable. "Kayla's been a real pleasure to have on the team," Carstensen said. "She really sets an example for the girls on the team. The main thing with her is she never gives anything less than 100 percent, whether it be practice or a game." On the court, that determination has translated into a handful of successes typically reserved for older players. As a freshman last year, Moyse took second place in the singles competition at the SOC district tournament, qualified for the state tournament and advanced to the second round. "Making it to state my freshman year, that was pretty big for me," Moyse said. "I didn't think I'd do that well, so it surprised me when I lost just once at district." At state, Moyse fell in the second round to the eventual state champion, Emily Kirchem of Reynolds. "She was really good," Moyse said. "Hopefully I'll play like her one day. I want to make it to state and go as far as I can (this year)." Carstensen believes Moyse has what it takes to perform very well in the prep ranks and then move on to play at higher levels. "From my standpoint, you have a girl in the 10th grade with good skills and good talent," Carstensen said. "She's going to play some college tennis, I have no doubt about that." The secret to her success Moyse does a couple of things on the court that befuddle her opponents and make her such a strong player. "Technically, she's got a tremendous amount of top-spin on the ball," Carstensen said. "That makes a really heavy ball, so she can automatically set herself up to take control of the match." Though she admits she needs to work on being more consistent and adjusting to different weather conditions, Moyse exhibits a lot of patience on the court, waiting for the point to appear instead of pushing the tempo of the game. "She's quick on her feet and determined at every single point," Carstensen said. But as good as Moyse is on the court, not all of it is talent. Her family has played a huge role in her tennis success, from teaching her how to play as a child to encouraging her as she grew up and now being there to balance her high school competition with her year-round game and - of course - cheering her on. "I think its a very special situation, the way her parents support her," Carstensen said, noting the time they take in the summer get Moyse to tournaments. "Both of her parents have been really supportive of what we do here at the high school, as well." Her family also instilled in Moyse the element that makes the biggest difference for her as a tennis player. "She really has a love of the game and a passion for it," Carstensen said. That explains her simple goal: "I just want to get as good as I can get," Moyse said. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams