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Former South student Raven Neely named Michigan’s first Miss Tennis

Former+South+student+and+tennis+player%2C+Raven+Neely+16.
Former South student and tennis player, Raven Neely ’16.

By Alyssa Czech ’18 | Copy Editor

A four-star college recruit.

One of the top 130 tennis players in the nation.

Has made it to the final of three Intercollegiate Tennis Association Tournaments.

Will be attending Northern Illinois University (NIU) this fall on a full ride athletic scholarship.

Has been named Michigan’s 2016 Miss Tennis July 29.

This is Raven Neely ‘16, former South student and tennis player.

Neely impressed her parents, coaches and community when she was awarded the title 2016 Miss Tennis.

“They were really excited and proud of me. It’s a ‘great honor’ they say, to be named Miss Tennis of Michigan,” Neely said.

The title of Miss Tennis is awarded to the best senior tennis player in Michigan. All four divisions vote on their best senior player, then all of the coaches elect the best player out of the four to be named Miss Tennis, according to South Girl’s Tennis coach Mark Sobieralski.

Neely will receive the honor at the Hall of Fame Banquet at the Troy Marriott on Feb. 17.

“I’m really excited, knowing that all my hard work has paid off and that everyone who has been supporting me (was) proud of me and my success,” Neely said.

Neely began tennis at five years old and started getting serious at seven when she began competing in tournaments.

She tried out many sports at a young age — golf and tennis being her favorites — until she dropped golf and chose to pursue tennis, according to Neely.

“Tennis was the one that I liked more, I actually thought golf was really boring — a lot of walking around — and tennis is more active (with) more movement and just more exciting,” Neely said.

Both Sobieralski and Gombera raved about Neely’s work ethic.

“I’ve been coaching high school for 34 years; she’s got to be the hardest working player I’ve ever coached,” Sobieralski said. “She makes everyone at practice better because of her work ethic. She won’t leave the court unless she hits a good serve in, or makes her last forehand. She is an extremely hard worker, that girl.”

According to both coaches and Neely herself, Neely strives to improve every time she steps on the court. Sobieralski said she makes all her teammates work harder, which helps him as a coach and makes the team stronger.

“I just want to go out there every day, making sure that I can be the best I can be. I just want to get better and improve every day, so that’s pretty much my motivation,” Neely said.

Neely’s father, Lorenzo Neely, was a basketball star who has set several records at Eastern Michigan and still coaches basketball. The fact that Neely comes from such an athletic family is another factor that contributes to her success, Sobieralski and Gombera said.

“She’s gifted physically…She’s extremely strong. She moves well. She’s very powerful… and very athletic. She’s got great genes,” Sobieralski said.

Neely said growing up with an athlete father has influenced her tremendously.

“The way he talks about having to be mentally strong on and off the court has really helped throughout the years,” Neely said.

Her competitiveness is an attribute that both coaches recognize and value in the girl, and both Neely and Gombera agree that her forehand and serve are the strongest parts of Neely’s tennis game.

“I’m going to say the weakest part of her game is sometimes she just loses focus once in awhile, or she might let up a little bit instead of just keeping her foot on the accelerator,” Sobieralski said.

Neely trains with her coach Dennis Royal for about 2-3 hours every day, and then works out and does extra work about three days out of the week. She has been practicing this rigorous training schedule for about ten years now.
This work has prepared Neely for her goal of playing college tennis. NIU began looking at her during her junior year.

Cleveland State, Cincinnati, Minnesota, West Virginia and Wisconsin were all colleges that showed interest in Neely. Sobieralski said he thought Neely would choose a Big 10 college, but she chose NIU instead.

“I felt like NIU had (my) best interest, and they weren’t really having one foot in and one foot out with me. They really wanted me, and so that’s where I felt like home would be,” Neely said.

Another reason she chose to play for NIU is her coach there — Gombera.

“I’m in good hands over there with her. I feel like she can take my game to another level and with the team we will be having in the fall, I think we can do big things,” Neely said.

Gombera and Neely first met at a tournament in Ohio when Neely was about 12-14 years old and Gombera was a player at the University of Akron.

“I am humbled to have her here on the team…She is like a daughter to me,” Gombera said.

Both Neely and Gombera have large goals for Neely’s college career and are looking forward to a great year of tennis.

“(My goal is) to win the conference tournament, of course, and do well in all my matches… To dominate and make a name for myself,” Neely said.

Neely plans to go far with tennis and make a career out of it.

“(I plan to) do my four years in college, playing college tennis, and then eventually go on to the pro circuit and play pro tournaments and turn pro out of college.” Neely said.

Both of Neely’s coaches, Sobieralski and Gombera, are looking forward to what Neely can do with tennis and how far she can go.

“The sky’s the limit for her. She definitely has the game to go professionally, it’s a matter of how hard she can work from now until she graduates. And, you know, anything is possible, it’s just the work ethic. And I know she has the drive to be successful,” Gombera said.

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