Girls tennis: Fairview’s Jane Roth nabs Daily Camera player of the year

For the first 17 years of her life, Jane Roth always operated as part of a pair.

First, it was her and her older sister Lizzy. The two, who are only 12 months apart, began playing tennis 11 years ago at the Gonzo Tennis Academy with their sights set on the high school game. When they hit the courts at Fairview, they split off into different duos through doubles play.

Lizzy won a state championship at No. 1 doubles alongside Virginia Gomulka a year ago. Jane and her partner, Maya Brakhage, won consecutive 2 doubles titles during their sophomore and junior seasons.

Everything changed this year.

As a senior, Jane was left without her older sister for the first time in her life. Lizzy had jetted off to Indiana University, then an injury at the top of Fairview’s lineup forced Jane and Brakhage to split up into positions that they had seldom played. Jane won the No. 2 singles spot on the team.

“It was kind of crazy, because I didn’t really have any time to think about singles,” Jane said. “I had been practicing doubles the past couple of months leading up to it. I was kind of shocked, but I kind of just embraced it and I did my best. Once I started seeing good results, I was like, ‘Maybe I could win this.’”

That’s exactly what she did.

Jane adjusted to the singles game with rapid efficiency, discovering early on that if she played free and lifted the pressure off of herself, she could beat just about anybody. That culminated in a 17-1 record and a 2 singles state crown by the end of the season. Her doubles skills made her that much more dangerous.

“I could come to the net and finish points up there, which, I think, doubles helped with,” Jane said. “The singles game in general, it was just getting ready for longer points and more groundstroke rallies instead of just volleys.”

Her dominance in both the doubles and singles scenes over the past three years earned her the Daily Camera player of the year honors this season.

“Jane thrived,” her mother Ann said. “She became a leader. She was going down (to Apex Tennis Center) four or five times a week after Lizzy went to college. She put in a ton of work her senior year. She always kind of just let Lizzy take over and talk to the team — or this or that — and then all of a sudden, it’s Jane. We were so proud of her to watch her get the girls together and different things as the season evolved. I think it actually helped her a lot, having this year to herself.”

Now that she’s completed her high school run, Jane will set her sights more on academics but plans to play club tennis when she follows Lizzy to Indiana. Lizzy, of course, was there to cheer Jane on during the final weeks of her final season with the Knights.

“It’s so great to see, just knowing how hard she’s worked for it,” Lizzy said. “We’re so close. We do all of the same things. We’re like the same person. I’m so excited (for next year). Everything will feel normal again.”