By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CENTRE – Cherokee County High School No. 2 girls tennis player Aubree Sipsy didn’t seriously think about playing collegiately until this year. She told fifth-year head coach Amanda Boozer she thought she might like to try and continue playing, and Boozer went into action. She put out some feelers to some college coaches.
One of the first coaches Boozer contacted was Snead State women’s head coach Matt Holaday. Former Lady Warrior, Snead State and Montevallo tennis player Haley Highfield Roddam, now an assistant coach at Cherokee County, also wrote Holaday on Sipsy’s behalf.
Holaday was very receptive to giving Sipsy a look-see.
“He was really excited about her,” Boozer recalled. “He said he’s had two players (Jessica Grifith and Katie Hill) from Cherokee County he’s coached before. He said ‘You have good tennis there.’”
What started as a simple conversation has now turned into a scholarship for Sipsy. She signed with Lady Parsons on Wednesday.
“I’m excited,” Sipsy said. “I had kind of brushed it off until this year. I remember my eighth grade year I could barely hit the ball, but I think I’ve done really well since then. My main focus this year was serves, and I feel like they’ve really improved a lot.”
Boozer said she’s proud of how far Sipsy has come since her early years with the Lady Warrior program.
“She’s steadily improved,” Boozer said. “In eighth grade, she was very new and had a lot of things she needed to work on, but she is one of the most coachable players I’ve had. She does exactly what we say when we ask her to try a new spin on the ball or a new grip. She’s been very successful. She’s probably got one of the best forms on the team. We have a lot of good tennis players, but as far as her form goes, she has really good form. That makes me more excited about her moving on playing in college.”
Holaday likes what he’s seen out of Sipsy as well.
“I am tickled to have Aubree sign with us at Snead State,” he said. “Aubree is the third girls tennis player I’ve recruited from Cherokee County High School over the years and I am pleased Aubree chose us to continue her future in tennis. I couldn’t be more excited about having Aubree join our team for the next two years.”
One of the things Boozer said has helped Sipsy improve her game has been working with Lady Warrior assistant coach Greyce Anderson. Anderson, a Brazilian native, came to the United States on a tennis scholarship to Weber State University in Utah and is now helping Boozer coach the Lady Warriors.
Behind the tutelage of Boozer and Anderson, Sipsy has turned into “a really good leader.”
“She doesn’t say a whole lot, but her actions speak for her,” Boozer said. “She communicates very well. She comes in and hits extra. I don’t think we would’ve been where we were this year without her. We were so close to going to state. We came in third in our section, with the top two going to state. With her attitude and work ethic, it just helped raise the level for everybody.”
Sipsy is ready to raise her level in college now, but it’s also bittersweet for her to leave the Lady Warrior program behind.
“Obviously I’m going to miss it here because I love this team so much. They’ve meant so much to me,” she said. “I want to thank Coach Boozer because she helped put all this together. I don’t think I would’ve gotten my scholarship if it wasn’t for her.”