For most, playing a sport means winning and losing, but for Delaney Phanco, it means so much more.  Phanco plays varsity tennis to achieve her goals of playing at the collegiate level and possibly beyond. Like any other athlete, her goals will take time to achieve, but anything is possible with her positive mindset.

“I have been training everyday for about three hours,” Phanco said. “I definitely want to play in college and hopefully, play on the tour for a little bit.”

For this student athlete, it can be tough to balance schoolwork and training. In addition to making time for her school work and practice, she has also been talking to recruiters to help her achieve her goals.

Recently, Phanco verbally committed to the University of Nevada to play tennis at the next level.

“I’m starting to focus on tennis and college more which is fun, but also really stressful,” Phanco said.

The team is constantly encouraging Phanco and know they can look to her for advice both on and off the court. Phancos’ teammates both support and challenge her to be the best player she can be.

“She’s super encouraging and never fails to pick me up when I’m down,” sophomore Alexis Mertz said. “She gives really good advice too and always gives 110% on the court.”

With such a busy life, Phanco constantly reminds herself to refocus on what is important. She does have free time to enjoy herself and hang out with friends, but it’s all business when it comes down to tennis and schoolwork.

“I’ve been practicing really hard and eliminating all the unnecessary drama in my life to focus on what is really important to me,” Phanco said.

Just like all athletes, Phanco is still maintaining her strengths and practicing to improve her weaknesses. Every day on the court, she focuses on fixing the little things to improve her overall game which not only helps her, but her teammates as well.  As a senior and a leader on the team, Phanco strives to help other players improve in any way that she can.

“She’s really fast on the court and super athletic,” Mertz said. “We’ve been working together on the little stuff throughout summer and during the season. She’s just a really strong and smart player.”

The season this year has already picked up to a great start with Phanco and her teammates. Their 3-0 record so far has the team looking out for war against other schools.

“The season has been going really really well; our team is acting as a family which I really like,” Phanco said. “We are all really close and so far, it has been really fun.”

No matter what happens on the court, Phanco always looks forward. With all her success so far, she is looking to achieve bigger and better things beyond her high school years.