MEADVILLE —
After years of struggling, the Meadville Area Senior High School boys tennis team achieved a .500 mark this past season. A large part of the team’s success this year was due to the positive attitude and dedication by The Meadville Tribune’s 2012 Boys Tennis Player of the Year, C.J. Olsen.
“This means the world to me,” Olsen said. “I have worked my whole high school career on getting better and this shows me that all my hard work has paid off.”
Olsen, a senior, had to work his way up the rankings, beginning the season has the No. 4 singles player on the roster and a member of the No. 1 doubles team.
“With it being my first year as coach, I didn’t know what to expect out of Olsen or the rest of the team,” Meadville head coach Rick Zylak said. “The only thing I was expecting was for them to give me 100 percent.”
Olsen far exceeded those expectations. One of the things that helped him reach the level he did was his attentiveness and strong conditioning.
“I absolutely love conditioning,” Olsen said. “I was usually the first one done when we had to run and would always go back and encourage my other teammates to finish. Also, I wanted to make sure I perfected my stroke and the only way to keep doing that was to practice.”
That kind of attitude and commitment helped Olsen earn the vote of his teammates and become Meadville’s co-captain at the start of the season. His positive attitude and commitment to helping improve his teammates also made him the recipient of the coaches award at the season’s conclusion.
“I was speechless,” Olsen said. “I wasn’t expecting that at all. All season long I did my best to keep my team motivated and that’s what coach loved about me.”
Olsen began the season as half of the No 1. doubles team for Bulldogs, who finished the season with a 5-5 overall record. After a 2-1 start with wins over Corry and Titusville, Olsen’s fortunes took a turn after his partner decided to quit. From that point on, Olsen dedicated himself to improving his singles game.
“That was definitely a turning point for him,” Zylak said. “I knew with his hard work and dedication he was going to do everything to earn that No. 1 spot.”
It didn’t take long for Olsen to capture that No. 1 singles spot on the roster, a position he was able to ease into much more successfully than he did as a doubles player.
“It was a lot less stressful playing singles,” Olsen said. “In doubles I was always worried about if I missed a shot what my partner was thinking. Whereas in singles you only have to worry about yourself.”
Even during the difficult times this season, Olsen always looked at the positive.
“I feel like we moved forward and got better in every match,” Olsen said. “Yes, we still lost matches along the way, but we were able to take something out of it in order to get better for the next match.”
Olsen will bring his improved game and positive attitude to the collegiate ranks next year when he attends the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. As well as playing tennis, Olsen will major in criminal justice.
After becoming Meadville’s No. 1 player at the end of the season, it will be back to ground zero in college for Olsen. And he’s excited to climb the ladder once again.
“I have talked to my new coach already a couple of times,” Olsen said. “I can’t wait to prove to everyone what I can do and that I can make it.”
One thing Olsen is not going got worry about is the harder conditioning schedule.
“I hope there is a difference between high school and college,” he said. “I want to be pushed more.”
With that attitude, it’s hard to argue that Olsen wasn’t the right choice for the award.
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Olsen's dedication helped Bulldogs improve in 2012
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