Athlete of the Week — Katie Lowe

Freshman tennis player Katie Lowe is a rising star at West Ashley High School. She started playing tennis when she was just 4 years old and joined the Wildcat Varsity Girls Tennis team when she was in the 7th grade. “Katie works hard and trains year round,” says WAHS Varsity Girls Tennis coach, Jaima Kennedy. “She is fun to watch in both singles and doubles. [Katie] has a strong serve and good overall game.”
Lowe’s affinity for tennis began after watching her family play when she was a young child. When Lowe was 10 years old, she participated in The Palmetto Championships in Belton and Anderson.
Besides playing tennis for WAHS, Lowe goes to a tennis clinic year-round, which she attends three to five times a week. Practice is an essential part of her success and is part of what helps her to grow as an athlete. “I work hard at practice. I don’t slack off and I try to do my best,” says Lowe.
Despite all of her hard work she still faces her share of challenges on the tennis court. Lowe has lost two matches this season. “It’s like a fight. It’s a mental game. I try to put my mind in the right place,” says Lowe. This strategy has helped her come back from behind to win several matches. “She came back against Ashley Ridge and James Island after losing the first set to win in the 3rd set tie breaker. She also beat Goose Creek and took Summerville to a third set tie breaker as well,” says Kennedy.
Lowe is always looking to improve her game. She says maintaining a consistent serve is her biggest challenge. To improve her skills and try to overcome this challenge, she goes to the tennis courts with a bucket of balls almost every day just to practice her serve.
Lowe’s biggest supporter was her clinic coach who recently moved back to his home country of Sweden. He was one of her first coaches and taught her practically everything she knows about the sport.
Tennis is not the only activity in which Lowe participates. She attends her youth group at church, she is a part of the DECA chapter at WAHS, and she is a volunteer tennis teacher for the United States Tennis Association (USTA). On Saturdays she attends a program to help kids learn the basics of tennis and to share her love of the sport with them.
Lowe enjoys tennis so much that she plans to continue with it after she leaves high school. She plans to go to the College of Charleston and hopes to play on their tennis team. While there she wants to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education or to become a tennis instructor.