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Fierce and focused

Sophomore Jeannette McDonald's aggressive play drives the Bears.

By EMILY NIPPS
Published March 8, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - The most powerful player on the Central girls team doesn't look so tough. With thick-soled shoes on, Jeannette McDonald is 5 feet tall. With a stack of schoolbooks in her arms, she weighs 98 pounds.

But when the sophomore puts on her tennis clothes and steps on the court with a racket in her hand, something changes. Her cuteness gives way to a serious attitude that some of her opponents simply don't get.

"It's not that she's rude," Central coach Joe Nicolai said. "When she hits the court, she's all business.

"A lot of kids at the high school level think of this more as rec tennis, but that's not what it's about for Jeannette. Sometimes people don't understand that."

McDonald will make no apologies for her competitiveness. She serves as the face of the Bears, who are on a mission to repeat or improve on last year's success.

"We want to win districts," McDonald said, "and maybe return to states."

The Bears lost their No.2 and No.4 players, Shelane Etchison and Shaena Keefe, from last year, but return a fairly young squad that tops the county. Junior Irene Cho will play at No.2, and senior No.3 Stephanie D'Anna records only three losses in her career.

Freshmen Alexa Burns and Nicole Schallenberg will play at Nos.4 and 5, respectively.

So far, the Bears are 4-0 and see their best competition coming from district opponent River Ridge, which returned several players and added an exchange student from Germany at No.1.

It won't be easy for Central to repeat last season's performance, in which the 17-2 Bears won district, conference and region titles.

"Our team was really strong last year," Cho said. "It'll be a little more challenging this year."

The Central boys (3-0), meanwhile, hope to catch up to their counterparts after they returned everyone from last season's team. McDonald's brother, John, heads the Bears at No.1 and almost all of the top five have played together since their freshman year.

"It's always been the girls team that gets the attention, so we're trying to catch up," junior No.4 player Shawn Wilson said.

"No one really talks about the boys."

On Valentine's Day, the boys played the girls in their "Valentine's Classic." As usual, the much faster and stronger boys beat the girls in almost every match.

Almost.

The boys No.2 player, Tony Bulso, had to take the place of John McDonald, who didn't play that day.

Jeannette McDonald took care of business.

[Last modified March 8, 2005, 16:52:55]