Senior Nicole Smith loads up to swing through a serve sporting a knee brace against UCLA on April 6. Smith struggled with knee injuries during her career at ASU. (Photo by Murphy Bannerman)After shutting out Washington State at the end of March, ASU tennis coach Sheila McInerney gave senior Nicole Smith an unusual reason to celebrate. “Sheila said, ’What happened today?’” Smith recalls McInerney asking her.
“Well we played really well,” Smith replied.
“No, what happened today?” McInerney asked again.
“We served well,” Smith remembered saying, trying to answer her coach’s questioning when McInerney finally revealed the answer.
“No Nik, you made it through March,” Smith recalled McInerney telling her.
Finally, in her four years of playing tennis for the Sun Devils, Smith would make it through the month of March unscathed.
“It’s been literally four years. The last four years every March I’ve hurt myself,” Smith said.
A glance at Smith’s right knee serves as a reminder of the four surgeries she’s endured that left her only able to play doubles this season. A long vertical scar runs down the top of her right knee with two smaller scars alongside.
They are a testament to how much Smith loves tennis and how she made it through what she calls, “the most up and down experience I’ve ever been through.”
“There’s been days I would wake up and I would just cry and say, ‘I’m done. I’m quitting,’ or ‘This isn’t worth it. I can’t keep doing this,’” Smith said. “I love to play tennis. I love to compete, and that was always what kept me going.”
The unwavering support of the coaches, her teammates and especially her family also helped Smith through the tough process. Her mom and McInerney were with her every step of the way, but it was her father’s words that truly resonated with Smith.
“He’d always say, ‘I love to watch you play, just love watching you play,’” Smith said. "Those times when things got really tough, and I couldn’t find it in myself to do it for myself, I did it for them; I did it for the people who loved me.”
Tough times were common.
The long, repetitious hours of therapy every day were a far cry from where Smith truly wanted to be: back on the court.
One summer day, while back at home in Canada after her third surgery, Smith hit rock bottom.
Sitting in her room, unable to enjoy time with friends or play tennis, Smith broke down.
“I just remember crying and just not seeing the light at end of the tunnel.” Smith said.
The longer Smith was forced to sit on the sidelines, the longer and darker that tunnel seemed to get. Always a fierce competitor, Smith yearned to be on the court alongside her teammates.
On Saturday against UA, after winning her doubles match earlier in the day, Smith was coaching sophomore Leighann Sahagun and freshman Stephanie Vlad. It was something she never could have done while she was sidelined.
“Whenever you’re injured and you love something so much, it’s hard to sit there and watch," Smith said. "Have everyone playing and doing what you want to be doing so badly."
Smith wanted so desperately was to compete again. She not only embraces competition, she enjoys it. In fact, it’s Smith’s very definition of the word.
“We asked our kids for the definition of competition, and they all (said) ‘intensity,’ ‘focus’ and all this," McInerney said. "Nikki’s definition was 'fun.'"
By that definition, Smith has had her fun this season.
Alongside senior doubles partner Jacqueline Cako, the two have become one of the top doubles tandems in the country.
Boasting a 14-5 record in doubles this season and a No. 28 ranking, Cako and Smith could keep the fun going into the NCAA doubles championships.
Playing in the NCAAs has always been a goal of Smith’s and now her goal is in reach. It all depends on how she and partner Cako play in Ojai, Calif., at the Pac-12 championships.
While competing for a national doubles title would certainly be a massive accomplishment, simply getting to April and beating UA on Saturday was the real high for Smith.
“The high right now is that I’m here … after a match that we just won and that we beat U of A and that I contributed,” Smith said. “That’s the high; that’s the reason I kept going was to get to today.”
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu or follow him on twitter @EricSmith_SP
