Four years of hard work molded Rachel Rha into the leader of the Mainland Regional tennis team

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher When we think of a team leader, we normally think of an athlete who gets their teammates fired up, stands out in a crowd and has the type of personality that gets noticed. Rachel Rha is somewhat shy and reserved. She’s not the type to get in the face of a teammate to get her pumped up. She’s very methodical in her approach to tennis and at times seems almost cautious in her movements on the court. But she is, without a doubt, the leader of the Mainland Regional tennis team. Because, well, it’s hard for the other girls on the team not to look up to her. Rha is a senior who has grinded her way to the first singles position, starting out as a doubles player her first two years before ascending to first singles last year as a junior. She is extremely polite, takes time to talk to all the girls on the team, even the freshmen, excels in the classroom, and has become sort of the steadying force for a tennis team that although it doesn’t have any superstars, is consistently one of the best teams in the Cape-Atlantic League. With Rha leading the charge, the Mustangs won 11 of their first 12 matches, good for the top spot in South Jersey Group 3. Individually, Rha hovers around the .500 mark, but two of her losses came to freshman phenom Tess Fisher of Vineland, perhaps the best player in the CAL. And her value to the team goes way beyond her win-loss record. Mainland coach Kathy Yohe said she saw the potential Rha is fulfilling this year as a very good player and team leader when she was just a freshman in 2011. “When she was a freshman we had a very good team that year, and from the first day of practice I said to my assistant coach, ‘she’s going to be good.’ She’s a very natural tennis player. I expected her to be a first singles player,” Yohe said. Rachel Rha worked hard to become the first singles player at Mainland, and her dedication on and off the court serves as inspiration to her teammates and coaches. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) Rha went 7-12 last fall in her first season as a first singles player, and although she said she was disappointed in the record, she believes that experience has made her a better tennis player this year. “It was definitely tough,” Rha said of the transition from doubles to singles. “You don’t have a partner to rely on or talk to when you are feeling down. In singles you are on your own, and the mental game is different, too. I thought I was going to play third singles or maybe even second, and when I ended up at first it was definitely a surprise. Last year was a bit rough because the change was so different. “I’ve been doing a lot better than last year because I have that experience from last year and I’m used to the dynamic of being the first singles player. You do have a lot of pressure. I feel like I have to set an example and I always want to do my best. It’s a lot of responsibility,” said Rha, a 17-year-old Linwood resident. “She’s a really hard worker. She puts a lot of pressure on herself. She’s much tougher on herself than anyone else is on her. She wants to do her best every time she steps on the court,” Yohe said. Yohe said Rha is so good at the baseline that sometimes she relies too much on her powerful forehand. Yohe said she has been working with Rha to be a more aggressive player, take more chances and sometimes rush the net to force the action. “She’s been trying to be more aggressive but she rarely (comes to the net). And sometimes she will and will win the point, but she doesn’t really feel comfortable doing that. She’s definitely more of a baseline player because she feels more comfortable back there,” Yohe said. “She has a really nice forehand and that’s her biggest weapon. I see her being more aggressive than last year, even from the baseline. She’s making winners from the baseline now, when before it was more of just to keep the ball in play.” Rha said she has taken some cues from freshman second singles player Meena Mandalapu, who has a very aggressive style. “I watch her matches and she’s a lot more aggressive than I am, and that pushes me to take a little more risk than I usually would,” Rha said. Rha also credits coach Yohe with helping her become not only a better player, but also a more confident one. “Last year, it was a lot of me trying to figure everything out but this year I know what to expect and that definitely helps. Coach Yohe has been really helpful and supportive, and she knew what I needed to work on both mentally and with my tennis skills. She helped me push past the not-so-good moments from last year,” Rha said. But with Rha, you have to go beyond the record and the X’s and O’s to understand what she means to this team. There are four other seniors in the starting lineup, Cassidy Scott at third singles and Blaire Adler, Caroline Barth and Erin Kiernan in the doubles rotation, and Yohe said those five seniors, led by Rha, have created a culture of togetherness that allows the Mustangs to excel as a team even though there isn’t a clear-cut superstar. “Rachel is very calm. All the girls look up to her. She’s a great player. She’s always about the team and from players one through 18 she treats them all the same. She has zero ego, which is really nice,” Yohe said. “She will help anybody with anything and the girls really look up to her.” “We all get along really well. Everyone is really supportive and we’re all there for each other,” Rha said. “We win as a team and that helps our motivation and positivity.” Coach Yohe said she is enjoying this season because next year the Mustangs will have an entirely new look with five of the seven positions being vacated by graduating seniors, with Rha topping the list of players who will be very difficult to replace. “She’s in the National Honor Society, the Key Club, all these wonderful things, and excels in her academics. There couldn’t be a nicer girl,” Yohe said. “We’re lucky because we have a lot of nice girls on the team, but it’s great to have a leader who is that nice and that the girls look up to. That’s what you want. You want them to see that she is nice and humble and down to earth. We’re going to miss her, and all the seniors, a lot. And every year we have a lot of nice girls like Rachel and when they leave it’s sad. “Before we went out to warm up (before a recent match) I heard one of the freshmen say, ‘I just love this team,'” Yohe said. “They are going to miss Rachel, Cassidy and all the other seniors.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]