The fall semester’s tennis competitions have come to an end, and a standout player for the St. Edward’s University (SEU) women’s tennis team is freshman Laura Galvan. 

The Houston native recently went undefeated at the Midwestern State Invitational on Sept. 18 and 19. Galvan had a perfect 8-0 record that landed her a championship in the singles bracket and doubles bracket alongside senior partner Ivana Zecevic. 

Galvan was first introduced to tennis at a young age from watching her older sister Amanda practice with her father. Her sister did not stay in tennis for very long, and although Galvan liked tennis, her parents did not take her interests seriously, because they did not want her to quit as well.

“I practiced on my own and [my parents] put me in different sports, but I didn’t catch onto anything else,” Galvan says. 

In sixth grade, she told her parents that she decided she did not want to play other sports, but rather devote her time to tennis. 

“Compared to a lot of other girls, I started playing tennis really late, but I caught up really fast… and progressed very quickly.”

Galvan then trained year-around for five years at the Houston Tennis Academy with Miguel Morales. She left at the start of her junior year because of the financial expense and she wanted to focus on her studies.

In high school, Galvan walked onto the varsity tennis team at Jersey Village High School, where she played line No. 1 and placed third at Regionals for four consecutive years.

“Laura has a lot of energy and a great work ethic. She brings this to competition too, which is what I loved about her when I was recruiting her,” SEU Women’s Tennis Head Coach Kendall Brooks said.

“She never gives up and stays positive throughout which is a huge asset in tennis. I think she will be a major contributor for us this year in her debut season.” 

This year, Galvan is taking a new approach to warming up before a match. “I never played music at practice before until I came [to SEU], and I’ve noticed I perform so much better just because I’m a lot more energetic and pumped up,” Galvan says. “Another bonding thing is all our music is diverse, but we all like listening to one another’s.”

The biology major’s favorite television series are “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Once Upon A Time.” 

“College tennis is so different from high school tennis. In high school tennis, you couldn’t cheer at all, but in college tennis you can go all out, and cheer and clap. It’s nice,” Galvan says also noting that collegiate individual tennis is played in the fall and team tennis is played in the spring, whereas in high school, it is reversed. 

Individually, Galvan wants to get better and stronger physically in order to avoid any possible injuries. 

“I also want to gain more confidence to have a consistent game where I am playing my own game and not adjusting to how my opponent is playing.”

Galvan says she really enjoys playing in doubles matches with Zecevic.

When speaking about goals, Zecevic says, “I definitely want to break a record, if there’s a record … since it’s my senior year.” Galvan excitedly replied, “We can win as many doubles as we can? Yes, let’s do that.”

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