Around Iredell Sports

2007 Dec-11

R&L all county girls tennis player of the year

Duncan excelled during first year at Statesville Christian

By Brad Norman
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In a way, it’s almost like Kayla Duncan was coming home. Duncan has lived in Winston-Salem for several years, but is familiar with the Statesville area.

Prior to arriving at Statesville Christian this year, she trained at Randy Pate’s tennis academy in sixth grade and knew several Statesville Christian tennis players, including Elizabeth Blackburn and Ali and Drew Burgiss.

So after two years at Winston-Salem Reynolds, and a home-schooled junior year that was successful on the courts but boring off them, Duncan began thinking about a change.

After much consideration over the summer, Duncan decided to enroll at Statesville Christian for her senior year.

It ended up being a perfect match.

Duncan, the 2007 R&L girls tennis player of the year, continued to hone her skills with Pate. And she was actually able to spend time with people throughout the school day, an aspect that had vanished during homeschooling.

“I am very social,” Duncan said. “It was really hard for me that year, but it was a good decision overall. It really helped my game. ... But I also wanted to get back around people.”

Duncan’s arrival at Statesville Christian coincided almost perfectly with the departure of another top player.

Kathryn Talbert, who played No. 1 for the Lions, moved to Hilton Head, leaving a void at the top of the lineup.

“It worked out really well,” Statesville Christian coach Tim Burgiss said. “Obviously when you’re a coach and you have one of the top players in the country coming in, you can’t help but be happy with that, especially with Kathryn Talbert transferring. It worked out to trading one national level player for another one.”

And the results on the court for the Lions were as good as ever.

Duncan won both a singles and doubles state title on the No. 1 courts and helped lead Statesville Christian to a state title in the 1A North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association.

And she won the singles title in the most dominant manner possible — she did not lose a game.

“Honestly, sometimes when I play people that aren’t at as tough a level, I kind of lose focus,” Duncan said. “I just kind of know I don’t really have to play my hardest. This tournament I was like, ‘that’s mean.’ This school has really helped me learn that I need to take everybody 100-percent seriously and focus.”

Off the court, things were great too.

Duncan was able to connect with the girls she already knew and quickly made friends with the rest of the team.

“She made a lot of immediate friends and fit right in,” Burgiss said. “The girls were pleased because they had someone to play those incredibly hard girls at No. 1.”

After playing in tournaments across the nation as a junior and being well-known throughout the national tennis circuit, Duncan was besieged with colleges calling her and offering scholarships.

“I had so many packets come to my house,” Duncan said. “Coaches were calling me every day. My phone bill went way up. My mom was actually getting very angry at me because it went way through the roof because people kept calling and calling.”

Most schools in the nation were interested in Duncan’s services, but she ultimately signed a full scholarship to play at TCU.

“It has a really good pre-med program and very good athletics,” Duncan said. “I loved the team, loved the academics and the campus was beautiful.”

At TCU, Duncan will use the attributes that make her such a good tennis player in the classroom as she studies to become a doctor.

“She has a great will to win,” Burgiss said. “She’s very focused, and very driven to succeed.”

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Duncan excelled during first year at Statesville Christian

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