North student athlete Shannon Lu scored her 100th win in high school girls tennis at a conference duel with East on Sept. 25, becoming the fourth tennis player in North’s history to achieve the feat, and being named Kane County’s Student Athlete of the Week.
Lu was surprised by her fellow girl’s tennis athletes immediately after the win, having not been informed of the milestone beforehand.
“I was really surprised when everyone surprised me with the posters because I had no idea it was my 100th win,” said Lu. “But it definitely feels good to be one of the few people to do it.”
Lu began playing tennis at an early age, picking it up from her father.
“I started playing when I was in third grade from my dad,” said Lu. “He kind of just always played tennis, so I started playing tennis, too.”
Lu primarily plays in doubles, usually playing alongside players in other grades.
“This year, I mostly play with Danielle Dejanovich. She’s a sophomore, and Reese Thomas, she’s a junior,” said Lu. “But in my freshman and sophomore years, I played with Alyssa Joseph, who’s [since] graduated.”
Shannon favors an aggressive playstyle, preferring to play at the net than the baseline, citing volleying as the best part of her game.
“I think my best part is my volleys and especially in doubles, that’s super important to stay aggressive,” said Lu.
Ultimately, Shannon credits her determined mentality as being the biggest driver behind her success in tennis, which doubles as her foremost advice to new tennis players.
“Stay positive the whole time and think ‘I can win, I can win every point,’” said Lu. “My mentality has definitely changed a lot throughout the years to stay more positive.”
