Three-time state tennis qualifier finishing her career off strong at Kaneland
MAPLE PARK, Ill. (BVM) — The high school fall sports season has been a bit different in the state of Illinois than in recent years. But that isn’t stopping Kaneland High School tennis star, Piper Schrepferman, from finishing her career off strong.
A three-time state qualifier, Schrepferman won’t have the chance to play at state this year. Yet, she has continued to keep a positive outlook as she looks towards her future tennis career.
Schrepferman began her athletic career as a gymnast. However, she quickly realized that the sport just wasn’t for her. At the same time, she watched her older sister, Samantha, excel in the sport of tennis as a state qualifier in high school and collegiate player at Grand Valley State University. Piper quickly realized she wanted to emulate her sister.
“I’ve wanted to be like my sister my whole life,” Piper said. “She’s honestly my favorite person. When she started to play in college and I saw how happy she was, I knew that’s what I really wanted when I grew up.”
The 17-year-old was actually introduced to the game of tennis at age 3, along with her other siblings. But Piper would not take up the game again until age 10, giving her a later start than most of the competition she faces today.
However, her skills would not take long to develop. Although she struggled a bit when she first started, by the time she entered high school, Piper was qualifying for United States Tennis Association (USTA) tournaments — realizing she had special talent within the sport.
“Once I started getting accepted into those types of tournaments, I really realized that this was something that I can actually do and actually succeed in,” Piper said. “That was kind of the turning point for me.”
Piper has looked up to both her sister and her coach equally over her years of playing. She believes her baseline game is the best part of her tennis repertoire, but wants to continue to improve on her net game as she finishes up high school and moves on to play college tennis.
While playing at Kaneland High School, Piper has had an outstanding career on the tennis court. As a freshman, the 17-year-old was nervous going into the season. But she immediately made an impact, switching back and forth between the team’s No. 1 and 2 player in singles, and qualifying for state, where she placed in the top eight individually.
As a sophomore, Piper’s confidence continued to grow, as she once again made it to state, claiming a top-five finish. During her junior year, Piper would again fall in the quarterfinals of the state tournament to eventual state champ, Megan Hauser. Despite the tough finish to her season, the tennis star is still very proud of what she accomplished in her first three years at Kaneland.
“Making it to state my freshman year was a shock for me,” Piper said. “I wasn’t really expecting to make it to state and go as far as I did but I’m super thankful that I did. It was such a good experience. Knowing I could do that as a freshman made me think the sky was the limit for sophomore year. In my junior year, the competition changed a little bit. I ended up playing so much better than my first two years even though I didn’t place as well, and it was just a really great experience.”
While her first three seasons of high school tennis went relatively according to plan, her senior tennis season has done anything but. Over the summer, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced that there would be no state tournaments held for fall sports in the state, including tennis. Although Piper feels fortunate to still be able to play out her final prep tennis season, not having one last chance to win a state title is a tough pill to swallow.
“I’m super grateful to be able to play because I feel so bad for all the other people who didn’t get the chance to play fall sports or even their spring sports last year as seniors,” Piper said. “That would just break my heart if I wasn’t able to. It is kind of a letdown that there is no state tournament because my big endpoint for the season was to go to state and tear it up. It’s kind of upsetting that I don’t get to do that this year, but it’s still a blast being on the team.”
Despite the uniqueness of this season while also not being able to play at state, Piper has still excelled for Kaneland, becoming a team captain and true leader for her team. She has embraced this role, trying to help the younger girls on the squad develop. Ultimately, Piper is just happy she and her team have been able to be out on the court day in and day out, as they continue to take things one day at a time.
COVID-19 has also had a significant impact on the college recruiting process for Piper. Right before things shut down in March, Piper was just beginning to talk to schools and set up college visits. Although recruiting has been opening back up division by division, Piper is still waiting for the chance to talk to Division I schools and take some official visits.
“It’s kind of been a nightmare if I’m being honest,” Piper said about the recruiting process. “We’re still waiting on DI schools to open up so that’s been kind of a struggle to find a school that I can start the recruitment process with and go and visit.”
Despite the difficulty of the recruiting process, Piper has a few schools lined up in the Midwest that she hopes to talk with and visit soon. No matter where she attends, she plans on studying exercise science, and hopes to become a school athletic trainer.
While playing tennis in college, Piper will look to continue to develop her skills and take her game to the next level. She also hopes to make a positive impact on her team while winning a couple tournaments as well.
Although the Kaneland senior has no plans of playing professional tennis at this point, she wants to stay involved with the sport post-college, and will look to perhaps coach while using the sport as leisure and enjoyment.
No matter where her future takes her, Piper has had a high school tennis career that is one to remember. Overall, she hopes she is remembered at Kaneland for not only what she has done on the court individually, but also what she has done to help the team and program throughout her years there.
“The legacy that I want to leave is being someone who was there to not only dominate on the court as a tennis player, but also someone who brought everyone together to get everyone excited playing the sport that I love,” Piper explained. “We shared that love throughout the team.”
