In her first year as a starter, Sandhya Nagaraj is playing at the No. 1 singles spot for the women’s tennis team. The sophomore was recently ranked No. 107 nationally and has posted a 5-2 record seven matches into the spring season.

Nagaraj’s journey to the N.C. State tennis courts started back in India at age nine. Nagaraj said she started playing because her parents wanted to keep her occupied.

“I just started for fun,” Nagaraj said. “My parents put me in it. They didn’t want me to waste time sitting around after school. It was just a fun thing. I started doing well and made a lot of friends and I wanted to keep going back. For some reason, I just kept going. Every time I wanted to quit, something big happened, so I couldn’t walk away from it.”

Nagaraj did so well she was asked to play for the India national team. She said it was an honor to play for her country and in the process she traveled to a number of countries like Spain and Australia. But there were a number of barriers she faced while traveling to tournaments.

“Language was one of them,” Nagaraj said. “I was traveling alone. It was hard for me to interact with people. Most of the people traveled with teams. Sometimes I traveled with coaches. It’s too expensive to travel with your coach all the time.”

When it came time to decide on her future, Nagaraj looked at colleges in the United States, including the University of Washington and State. Coach Hans Olsen said he heard about Nagaraj after talking to one of his players who was also from India.

“I’ve coached a good amount of players from India over the years,” Olsen said. “The last one, Nandita Chandrasekav, and her knew each other. There was a lot of communication between Sandhya and Nandita and between Nandita and me. People that I knew from India that spoke well of Sandhya, I think that’s how it got started.”

Once Nagaraj decided on joining the Wolfpack tennis team she learned that she would have to sit out a year because of NCAA rules. Nagaraj said it was hard to sit and watch when she felt she could make a difference.

“I knew even before I got here that I had problems with my eligibility,” Nagaraj said. “I was prepared for it and I handled it all right. That’s one of the reasons why I’m eager to play, because I had to sit out the whole year.”

Teammate and fellow sophomore Pender Sessoms said it’s an honor to play with someone as determined and talented as Nagaraj.

“She’s really, really good and she’s played on a completely different level than I have. That’s what it’s like playing in the ACC too,” Sessoms said. “When ever you are playing matches, you get to play against these players that are unbelievable and it’s really cool to have her on our team because she’s so good.”

Olsen said he believes Nagaraj having to sit out a year benefitted her.

“At the time, it was really frustrating for her,” Olsen said. “But I think she appreciates that time. “She has a good, mature approach to her tennis and life. It’s a game that we play, not to live or die by. But she has a good balance with it and I think that year helped her to understand what’s really important to her.”

Nagaraj has already had some influence on her teammates.

“The biggest thing that I’ve probably learned is that when she plays, she just keeps it simple and sticks it to them,” Sessoms said. “It’s just really fun to watch her play.”

As for what she hopes to achieve while she’s at State, Nagaraj said she just wants to play the best she can.

“I don’t want to put a goal next to my name, but having fun is my main thing,” Nagaraj said. “Your playing with a team, you have the team behind you. It was different from what I was use to. This is much more relaxed and fun.”