Prior to departing for Augustana,
Katie Jesperson made significant contributions to Elk River (Minnesota) High School's rich tennis tradition.
No Elk River player, boy or girl, has more wins than Jesperson. But, the transition to college competition would not be easy. Her court resume was lacking doubles experience.
“I rarely played doubles in high school,” she said. “Singles is so much more comfortable for me. But I have a great partner (
Michelle Wadas). She is a year older than me and we work well together. It's been a process, but we're learning.”
The tandem of Jesperson/Wadas was named All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference first team doubles in 2012. Jesperson and partner Brittany Gaster also earned first team recognition in 2011.
“Katie has picked up the game quickly,” said Augustana coach
Marc Kurtz. “We work on it every day and she is learning to be more aggressive at the net. Her number one attribute is her competitiveness. She has the will to win every point.”
Jesperson was also awarded all-conference first team honors for singles in 2011 and 2012. She posted a team high 29 singles wins as a freshman. She won 16 of 17 conference singles matches in her first two seasons. She was undefeated in six singles matches as a freshman and has occupied the Vikings' No. 1 singles slot for the past two seasons.
This spring Augustana won the NSIC championship for the fourth consecutive year. Jesperson has been involved in the last three title runs. The Vikings have won 43 consecutive matches against conference opponents stretching back to 2009. Twenty-eight of the wins are 9-0 decisions. The Vikings are 17-2 this season with 13 shutouts.
Despite the dominance, the Vikings leave nothing to chance.
“We never take it for granted,” Jesperson said. “We take each match seriously. We try to learn something from each match. There is always something to learn.”
Jesperson began learning the game at age nine.
“My dad is a tennis coach and he got me started,” she said. “He taught me the techniques and strategies. He taught me how to think on the court. I played tennis pretty much full-time because I learned quickly that I don't do well at contact sports. And I like being in on every play.”
As a seventh-grader, Jesperson entered the Elks' varsity lineup at No. 3 singles. Her skills and demeanor foreshadowed a special player on the rise. She played No. 1 the next five years.
Jesperson set the school-record for boys and girls with 213 wins in six years with the Elk River varsity. She was the first Elks tennis player to win six varsity letters, the first to be chosen to the All-Northwest Suburban Conference team six times, and the first four-time state tournament singles entrant.
Her only setback as a senior was to Aria Lambert of Minnetonka in the semifinals of the state Class AA tournament. Lambert now plays for the University of Minnesota.
Listed as a 3-star recruit by Tennis Recreuting.Net, Jesperson looked no further than Augustana to continue her tennis career. She preferred a smaller school and the Division II surroundings.
“I visited and really liked it here,” she said. “I liked the coach and had a good feeling about the campus and people. Augustana had more of what I wanted in a college.”
Three times Jesperson has been named NSIC player of the week. The most recent citation from the conference came in March after she won seven of eight matches on the Vikings' Florida trip.
So far this season she has lost just two of 19 matches. One setback came at the hands of Phoebe Walker of Division I Northern Iowa. The Vikings defeated the Panthers 4-3.
The first Central Region rankings for 2012 placed the Vikings' fourth. They are the lone representative from the NSIC. In addition to Jesperson, senior
Hannah Gebauer and freshman
Jessa Richards have earned NSIC player of the week honors.
What is it that powers Augustana's women's tennis?
“Marc really puts a lot of work into the program,” Jesperson said. “Every player has improved and every player continues to work hard. Everyone gets along very well and that helps the team dynamic.”
Jesperson said she feels no added pressure playing at the top of the lineup. “Number one counts for one point,” she said. “The pressure is distributed evenly throughout the team.”
One of her goals this season is to help the Vikings make it to the national tournament May 8-11 at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz. Individually, she just wants to get better.
“I'm really trying to improve my doubles game,” she said.
With her drive and mental toughness, Kurtz has no doubt Jesperson's game will continue to advance. “Once she gets on the court, it's go time,” he said.
