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Women's tennis freshman Allie Baer adjusts to team play at MSU

September 30, 2014
<p>Freshman Allie Baer gets ready to serve Sept. 13, 2014, during practice at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts near Wilson Hall. Erin Hampton/The State News</p>

Freshman Allie Baer gets ready to serve Sept. 13, 2014, during practice at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts near Wilson Hall. Erin Hampton/The State News

Photo by Erin Hampton | The State News

Before stepping onto the MSU tennis court this season, freshman Allie Baer had never played on a tennis team. Her competition was always an individual sport, playing against other athletes from around the world.

Baer’s family moved from Virginia Beach, Va. to Bradenton, Fla. to attend IMG Academy Pendleton School for high school. Prior to high school, Baer was home-schooled, so moving across the country and attending public school for the first time was an adjustment in itself.

“Virginia didn’t have enough options or a lot of kids,” Baer said. “When I went down to IMG, I would go every month for a couple weeks and I was playing with kids from around the world. I was one of five Americans (at IMG) for tennis.”

Transitioning from high school to college may be difficult for some students with the additional workload, the different class schedule and the higher expectations of professors. For college athletes, their days consist of classes in the morning and training in the afternoon or vice versa. Baer was familiar with this setup from IMG, making her transition easier.

“Where I trained in Florida, it was very similar to this,” Baer said. “So the (transition to college) is really easy for me. I had good time management all of high school.”

Baer made a name for herself during her time at IMG training academy, winning doubles at Eddie Herr International Junior Championships in 2012 . When MSU recruited her, it marked the first time Baer would be stepping on the court with other girls by her side. Her prior tennis years consisted of traveling with just her coaches and her family.

“It’s hard to be on your own all the time. With a team, if you are having a bad day, like everyone has sometimes, they pump you up and you are always on the same page because everyone’s attitudes feed off each other,” Baer said.

But from her summer and fall training, so far, Baer enjoys working alongside the other tennis girls, and her doubles partner, Erin Folkner.

“I think it’s harder as a team because you never want to be the one slacking off, so you are always working your hardest,” Baer said. “I love the team practices—the whole environment. You hear ‘Go green! Go white!’ and you’re always boosting each other up — working towards one goal.”

As the season progresses, Baer looks forward to “kicking butt,” and improving as an individual and as a team.

“It’s tough to be an athlete in the Big Ten,” Baer said. “I need to keep working and be more consistent. (Head coach Simone Jardim ) is working with me to keep poaching more. I want to do better than (the team did) last year. MSU had a really good season—best since 1991. We have a really good team this year.”

With her goals in mind an d her eyes on the Big Ten championship win, Baer looks forward to playing with her fellow Spartans and dominating. Throughout her tennis career, her family sacrificed a lot to make sure Baer would reach her tennis dreams. For Baer, “It was never an option not to” play tennis in college.

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