Coming out of high school, LSU freshman tennis player Jessica Golovin ranked as high as No. 13 nationally. She was considered a blue chip recruit, a term used to describe the best players exhibiting professional skill.
The New York native was heavily recruited, but she considered not going to college to pursue a professional tennis career. But after Golovin visited the LSU campus, co-head coach Julia Sell found herself landing the highest tennis recruit ever signed to the program and her third blue chip player since becoming head coach.
“I was being recruited, and when I came to visit, I fell in love with the school,” Golovin said. “I was getting help from my coach back home, and he was telling me about the school and how great it is.”
Sell said Golovin is good for the team because of her caliber and experience.
In simplest terms, high recruits coming to LSU boost morale on the team and draw the attention of the next class of recruits.
“It’s been great for the team in the aspect of the kids we have here, they want to win championships,” Sell said. “So every time we bring in a high-level player, it just helps us get one step further to that goal. Every year, we’ve gotten better with our recruiting.”
Golovin made an immediate effect on the court for the Lady Tigers. Despite not playing well in her first collegiate tennis tournament at the Charleston Women’s Pro Tennis 10K, Golovin didn’t let that performance come back to haunt her.
She made it to finals in the ITA Southern Regional, earning five wins, three of them against top-60 ranked opponents. Golovin playing in the singles final helped mark the first time in nearly a decade that LSU had singles and doubles competitors in the final draw.
“It felt really good,” Golovin said. “I didn’t do so well in Charleston, so coming to Auburn [Alabama] and beating all those top players felt good and boosted my confidence.”
The toughest match for Golovin was facing off against her teammate, junior Joana Vale Costa. But Sell told her she has to play to compete on the court while remembering they will always be teammates off the court, and it’s important to always respect opponents.
Sell was pleased with Golovin’s performance at Southern Regionals, calling her an energetic and positive gameday competitor.
“She’s certainly had a terrific start. I can’t even remember the last time a freshman went to the finals of regionals. I don’t even know if it’s ever happened before,” Sell said. “What she did that week was extremely impressive.”
Sell said Golovin’s biggest challenge is finding more ways to improve and maintaining a steady level of competition and results.
“She has a lot of tools in the tool basket, but she doesn’t always understand how to apply each one,” Sell said. “What we’re really excited about is we don’t even feel like we’ve etched the surface of what she’s capable of. We’ve been having so much fun training, improving and developing her the past few weeks. I think she’ll continue to get better and better.”
Golovin will continue to train and hone her skills under Sell and co-head coach Michael Sell. She is scheduled to compete in both upcoming tournaments, the Kitty Harrison Invitational in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Fall Invitational in Las Vegas, Nevada.
She may be less than two months into her freshman season, but Golovin already has her future planned.
“After college, I want to try to go pro and play at a professional level,” Golovin said. “My major is kinesiology, so after that, hopefully I can go to medical school and finish physical therapy and get my degree in that.”