The girls tennis team was looking forward to one of its best seasons in recent memory, and then the team’s best singles competitor suffered a burst appendix.
Sophomore Bethany Yauch, a standout in her freshmen year on the team, suffered a burst appendix four matches into the season. She missed the rest of the regular season, which also made her ineligible for sections.
Yauch wasn’t originally scared about her appendix, because she thought it could have been a stomach virus. She found out it was serious after St. Clair Hospital told her to go to Children’s Hospital.
“I thought it was a minor illness until I had to drive to Children’s with the IV in me,” Yauch said.
Yauch did not know how serious it was until after the surgery.“I did not know that an appendix burst was life-threatening until after the surgery, which is probably why I was so calm through this situation,” Yauch said.
Yauch was upset about not being able to play for the majority of the season, not because of her love for tennis, but for the seniors playing this year. “I really wanted to play with the seniors this year as I had close bonds with all of them. I am really going to miss them next year,” Yauch said.
One senior she is going to miss in particular is Nadine Khalil.
Yauch said Khalil did a great job in her absence. “Nadine has always been a good player but really stepped up after my unfortunate injury,” Yauch said. Other teammates agreed.
“She really pushed herself to become our No. 1, which is a hard position to fill,” junior Jenna Tarson said.
The whole team did an admirable job coming together after Yauch’s injury, Tarson said..
“We were upset, but knew we all had to step up and to work and push harder,” Tarson said. “Overall we did very well and had a good season.”