Spring sports at Liberty has begun and teams are seeing new and returning teammates, excited to start the season off strong. Liberty’s girls’ tennis team in particular welcomed an unfamiliar face- freshman Tayler Conway, a nationally-ranked tennis player, joined the roster. Ranked No.1 for the class of 2027 by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), her high level of skill and experience makes Conway a crucial asset and player on the team.
Conway has been actively playing tennis for seven years, with influence coming from her parents and her older sister, Haylee Conway, who is also nationally ranked in tennis.
“My parents put me in tennis when I was three or four because they put Haylee in, but I quit since I wasn’t really into it,” Conway said. “I got back into it when I was around 10 years old because I was bored and Haylee was playing.”
On top of being No.1 for the class of 2027, Conway is ranked 7th in the Northwest Washington district, 11th in the Pacific Northwest, and 334th in the nation.
During her seven years of competing on the tennis court, Conway has learned a number of valuable lessons from the sport.
“Tennis helped me learn a lot about myself and my personality,” Conway said. “I found that I get frustrated very easily, especially when I’m playing. I’ve also learned a lot about hard work and perseverance from playing tennis.”
Like other athletes, Conway faced some physical and mental barriers during her tennis journey.
“I would say the biggest challenge I’ve faced is injuries,” Conway said. “I haven’t had any major ones, but I’ve had a knee and ankle injury recently which restricted me from being able to play tournaments and training. There was also a period last year where I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to play well because I was training way more than other kids.”
As a homeschooled student, Conway has a busy schedule juggling school and training sessions.
“I’m doing school during any free time I have,” Conway said. “I do school in between tennis practices in the morning, afternoon, and evening. My schedule gets busier whenever I have live classes.”
Conway has her eyes set on winning state this spring season and has ambitious goals set for her future tennis career.
“For short-term goals, I want to make it into some of the big tournaments during the summer,” said Conway. “For the long term, I want to play Division I tennis in college and then potentially go pro.”
