Attitude is everything

Allie Tabish is not easily intimidated.

That quality is one you hope your No. 1 singles player has, and in Tabish’s case, it’s a trait she’s had since she first joined the University High School varsity as a wide-eyed, inexperienced freshman.

“I still remember my first match,” Tabish recalled, laughing at the recollection. “I was someone who didn’t have a lot of experience playing competitive tennis, but I did have a love for the game and had played it informally. The coach said ‘You’re playing No. 3 singles,’ and I didn’t really know what that was. Then, when I got to the court, they said ‘You’re playing a pro set,’ and I didn’t know what that was, either.”

Luckily, Tabish is a fast learner.

After three seasons as the Titans No. 3 singles player, she moved up to play No. 1 this spring.

“She’s only the second player that I’ve had play all four years on the varsity,” University girls coach Julene Osborn said. “She’s exactly the kind of person you want to have as your No. 1 player. She’s as nice as they come and a super-hard worker.”

Last year Tabish entered the district tennis tournament as the No. 3 player for the Titans. She ended up placing sixth overall, making her an alternate for the regional.

Osborn attributes that late-season run to a change in attitude.

“She just decided that she was going to get to every ball hit at her,” the coach said. “Not that she was going to return every one, but that she was going to get to every ball.”

Tennis is a game of skill, Tabish said. But it’s also a mental game.

“So much of this game is what goes on inside your own head,” she said. “Just changing your own attitude about the game can make a big difference on the court.”

Tabish understood the district tournament field, she said. As a No. 3 singles player, she had seen most of her competition play ahead of her and had a good idea of how to play them going into each match.

“It was kind of funny,” she said. “The tournament bracket didn’t have my name on it. For me, it just said ‘U-Hi No. 3.’ I’d watch other players checking the chart out and they’d be saying to each other ‘Who’s this U-Hi No. 3 and why is she having success?’ “

It helps that Tabish has never shied away from playing better players.

“I really don’t get intimidated,” she said. “I’ve always felt that playing people who are better than you are is the best way to get better yourself.”

If you make improving yourself your goal instead of winning, she said, you find yourself pulling off upsets.

This year, for the first time, Tabish has emerged from anonymity.

As the Titans No. 1 singles player, Tabish’s results are posted in the newspaper and online. Going into Thursday’s showdown with Greater Spokane League rival Central Valley, she’s 11-5 overall. The league season concludes next week with University’s league match with Mead.

“After that, we go into the Inland Empire Tournament and the district tournament is right after that,” Osborn said.

“I’ve thought about how it’s just about over,” Tabish said. “I’m not sure it’s hit me yet, though.”

Osborn expects her No. 1 to improve on last year’s district success.

“I really expect her to get to the regional tournament,” she said. “She was so close last year, I fully expect her to do well and qualify.”

Tabish has worked hard to achieve that goal.

She’s played in tournaments on the junior tennis circuit and attended intensive camps.

While some teammates took time off over spring break, Tabish jetted off to Maui for a camp that included high school and college players.

“It was a pretty intense camp,” she said. “The coaches were so impressive that you really wanted to work hard so you didn’t let them down.

“I’ve done camps in Palm Springs and in Hawaii both. It’s incredible just how much you learn in that kind of a setting.”

Tabish said she doesn’t plan to continue playing tennis in college.

“I’d like to go to a bigger school, so I don’t see myself playing,” she said. “If I thought I could walk-on and play, I might. But I’m not planning on it.”

But, she said, she intends to keep playing tennis.

“I’m going to be a little old lady still playing in a league,” she laughed. “I love this game and I am going to keep on playing it no matter what.”