Christine Maddox is a senior on the women's tennis team who has twice earned All-WCC first team honors in doubles and played in the NCAA Doubles Tournament. She will check in occasionally this year with "Journey of a Wave" postings detailing her four years in Malibu:
AsI journey into my final semester as a Pepperdine Wave, I cannot help but reflect on my beginnings and progression through my college years. As a freshman,I came in as a nervous 17-year-old in the spring 2014 season and was thrown right into the action. I remember the struggle of balancing academics and tennis, and how my ambitions of being a biology major with an accounting minor rapidly changed into focusing on sports medicine. During the whirlwind that was my freshman season, I developed a bulging disc in my lower back and was quickly unable to do any activity but cheer on my team for the majority of the season.
As the year went on, my injury healed, and Pepperdine acquired a new member to the squad, our head coach Per Nilsson, who helped us through the fall 2014 season and into the spring 2015 and conference play. I remember the hard work that we put in and the sweat and tears that went into that season, the wins and losses,and my first NCAA Doubles Championships in Waco, Texas, with my former partner Matea Cutura, who has since graduated. I had finally tasted what college tennis was like, and I couldn't wait to return in the fall.
During the fall, my world turned upside down again with a sprained MCL and bruised femur in a freak accident on the court in the Southwest Regionals, which took me out of the rest of the fall. If you have climbed the campus of Pepperdine,you know the multitude of stairs, and being on crutches for eight weeks took the wind out of my sails.
I was determined to return better than ever in the spring 2016 season. It was a season to remember as we fought for one another in each match and let the good times roll. One of the best moments was when we bested USC at our home courts to launch us into the NCAA Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the first time since 1994. We fought our hearts out for one another, Pepperdine and ourselves,and it had shown marvelously.
We reached the "Elite 8" of the NCAAs and loved every minute of it. I had so much pride for my team. My doubles partner, Matea Cutura and I, concluded our run in the Round of 16 at the NCAA Doubles Championship as she finished her campaign as a Wave and graduated. I will never forget our 2016 spring season, as it had shown us what dedication, a love for the game and each other, and spirit for our school could do if we truly set it free.
As far as my final season goes, I am here to compete for my team, my school and myself ... to go out with a "bang" in May 2017, and to enjoy every moment with my tennis family. I am looking forward to seeing how the hours of work we put in during this fall will translate to the dual matches in the spring, and beyond into the NCAA Championships in May.
I have always said that being a student-athlete is to have two full-time jobs, in which the days are long and the work is hard, but for this Wave, the payoff in the end will be worth the wait. I plan to graduate in fall 2017 with a bachelor of arts in sport medicine and four years of college tennis experience under my belt, which has given me the tools to #competewithpurpose in life's adventures on and off the court.
