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07/12/2019 12:00 AMBea Atengco joined the Morgan girls’ tennis team as a sophomore and quickly took a liking to the sport. Bea wound up playing both singles and doubles for the Huskies, ultimately serving as a senior captain during the 2019 spring season.
Bea recently graduated from Morgan after competing for the Huskies’ field hockey, girls’ fencing, and girls’ tennis teams. Bea also played one year of lacrosse, before trading her stick for a tennis racquet in her sophomore year.
Bea started off playing doubles for Morgan, then moved over to singles as a junior. This year, Bea returned to the doubles court and competed out of the No. 2 slot, finishing the season with six victories.
“[Head Coach Sue Cockley] really helped me, especially since I didn’t start tennis until my sophomore year. My teammates were also great help to me,” says Bea. “Physically, it helped that I would do tennis right after fencing in the winter, because I really stayed in shape. When it came to learning the skills of the game, it took time and dedication with practice, even in the summer.”
Bea learned a lot about tennis as a result of her experiences on the singles and doubles circuits. She had to make a few adjustments when she switched from doubles to singles in her junior season. While it was a challenge to not have anyone to lean on during rough patches, Bea realized that she needed to believe in herself.
“The game itself is really different, because it’s about ball placement with doubles, and then singles is more about who has the hardest hit,” Bea says. “It can be difficult to stay in the game with singles, especially when you are down and don’t have a partner to talk to. The switch to singles was hard at first, but being on the court more and playing against other girls helped. I started being more confident in myself and how I played.”
Bea built up her leadership skills while progressing through the ranks of Morgan’s program. When she was named a captain, Bea wanted to be a leader who always had a positive influence on her teammates.
“It was really nice being a captain, because the girls would look up to me, and so I had to lead by example,” says Bea. “For a lot of them, it was their first year playing, so it was important for me to help them stay positive and motivated.”
Coach Cockley praises Bea for doing a great job of balancing her academic and athletic responsibilities. Cockley says that Bea set the bar high for both herself and the Huskies and proved an exemplary leader for the squad.
“Every year, Bea showed incredible improvement and passion for the game. Bea is also a three-season athlete while maintaining her grade-point average to be in the top 10 of her class. She shows incredible determination in everything she does,” Cockley says. “A lot of the girls on the team looked to Bea for guidance not only on the court, but in school. She wanted to make this past season a success, and it showed in the direction she took the team and in the standards that she held the team to in both conditioning and practice.”
When Bea first stepped on the court, she thought that tennis would simply be a way to keep fit for her other sports. However, Bea found out that she loved playing tennis and went on to have tons of fun while thriving between the baselines.
“I first started thinking I would do tennis just to stay in shape, but I really loved it. I loved it, because the game was really fun,” says Bea. “It was also fun knowing you were by yourself, and it was great after a while to know it was all on me in a match.”