Senior Rhona Cook defeated UC Berkeley junior Lan Mi in two sets (6-4 and 6-3) in the finals of the Gold Draw at the Cal Fall Invitational on Sunday.
Cook beat the 64 players in the tournament and went 4-1 in her five matches.
The Campbell University transfer won the 32-stroke championship and attributes the victory to her patience and willingness to wait for opportunities.
Her awards include being Second-Team Big South All-Conference singles honors and First-Team Big South All-Conference doubles selection during her time with the Camels.
She played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles for the Fighting Camels as the team captain but decided to transfer to The Beach after the 2021-2022 season.
Cook reached out to LBSU about the prospect of transferring and said that she instantly felt a really good connection with head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello, who had the same goals in mind.
“From the first conversation, I could tell that she was a highly-motivated tennis player… and we both felt like it was a perfect fit,” Hilt-Costello said.
The No. 23 ranked player in Great Britain at the 18 and under level had plenty of success in the United Kingdom. She was a National Tour 18U semifinalist in singles and doubles and won a National Champion for Cheshire in the 2016 County Cup.
She has noticed that the U.S. took collegiate sports more seriously, the amazing weather and abundance of money compared to the U.K.
“Here the tennis programs are so good with athletic opportunities and also academics, and that is something that me and a lot of my other peers in the U.K. look for,” Cook said.
“She has to be one of the nicest people that I know off the court. And on the court, she’s very focused, motivating, determined and hard-working… she’s really a coach’s dream,” head coach Hilt-Costello said.
While at Campbell, Cook was honored with the Big South Commissioner’s Award for outstanding academics with her 4.0 GPA.
“Academics are very important to me […] being a student-athlete constitutes both [academics and athletics],” Cook said.
She looks to continue her success at the Beach Tennis Fall Tournament this weekend.