Senior Míša Herriges (also known as Jet 2 Holiday by the tennis team) has been the number one singles player on the girls tennis team for all four years of her high school career. Herriges started playing tennis in second grade through the Shorewood recreation department.
“It was just a fun sport through the recreation department. I just enjoyed having some friends in it and just having fun with it, but then I started getting more serious about it, because I realized that I wasn’t too bad,” Herriges said.
This year, Herriges qualified for D2 Individual State along with the number two singles player, Milja Aguirre. In this tournament, Herriges secured third place of all D2 girl’s high school number one singles players in Wisconsin. This was the third year Herriges attended individual state.
“My plan was just to stay there for as long as possible,” Herriges said.
Herriges received abundant support from her teammates during her experience at state, keeping her motivated throughout the tournament.
“It was just a really exciting experience to have so many people cheering me on… I could just look up and see everybody smiling and just supporting me,” Herriges said. “It meant a lot. That was probably the happiest moment that I’ve had throughout my tennis high school career, because everybody was there for me and I had so much support.”
In addition to Herriges qualifying for individual state, the girls tennis team as a whole qualified for state, being led by Herriges. The tournament was the first time Shorewood has ever won a girls tennis state title, as well as the first time a fourth seed school won since the current format was introduced in 2017.
“I think that it was really genuine and sweet for us all to end the season like that,” Herriges said. “People had some tough matches, and there were some ones that weren’t as tough, but we were there for each other no matter what.”
Herriges was recently nominated for the Athlete of the Week through the Journal Sentinel for the week of October 20th to the 25th along with five other local athletes. A poll open to the public was posted online, and Shorewood students and community members were encouraged to vote.
“When I found out about [the nomination], I definitely was really surprised,” Herriges said. “I think I had heard of it a little while before, but I was really surprised when people started texting and saying that I could win this.”
After a week of voting, Herriges took 45.03% of total vote, securing her win for the Athlete of the Week award.
“After I did win it, I was just really grateful because there were thousands of votes, so that means that many people, so many people, voted for me multiple times and spent time on it,” Herriges said. “It made me realize that I’m grateful for the support that I’ve been given.”
Herriges enjoys both the social and learning aspects of tennis throughout her time playing tennis recreationally and for high school.
“When I was younger, doing recreation department type stuff, the best moments were probably gaining friends through it and hanging out afterwards and everything,” Herriges said. “And then as I got older, I had lots of good coaches that I went to for private lessons and group lessons, and then I just kept on learning.
Overall, Herriges’s favorite part of being a tennis player have been her high school seasons.
“I’ve learned so much, and I think I’ve really grown,” said Herriges. “When I first started my freshman year, I definitely didn’t know where any of this was going, but there’s been really awesome matches.”
Throughout her tennis career, Herriges has had support from various people around her.
“I think people around me, like my coaches and my mom, everybody just really believed in me and just told me that I can do this, I can get to state and I can get a medal at state,” Herriges said. “When I kept getting told these things, it made me really start to believe in myself and understand that I am capable of what I want to achieve if I just work hard enough for it.”
Although she intends to continue to play tennis after she graduates, Herriges’s final high school tennis season was still bittersweet.
“I think I’m really grateful for the time that I’ve had here, and I can’t wait to keep going,” Herriges said. “I’m glad it’s not over, but I’m sad that it’s over here.”