Fox Chapel’s Quackenbush looks forward to tennis season

By: Marty Stewart
Friday, July 12, 2019 | 6:49 PM

Fox Chapel junior Lexi Quackenbush has been around tennis most of her life. Her father, Allen, was a tennis instructor, and she gravitated toward the sport.

“I guess I’ve been playing for around 10 years now,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed it since I first picked up a racket. It’s nice to have a father who knows so much about the sport. He really has helped me.”

Last year, she played at No. 2 and No. 3 singles for the Foxes and also played doubles. She and partner Carissa Shepherd, a rising senior, finished third at the WPIAL doubles championships last fall.

“We played well together and had a good run at WPIALs,” Quackenbush said.

Quackenbush doesn’t have a preference for singles or doubles this year.

“I just want to be on the court and contribute as much as I can. I think we can be a really strong team this year,” Quackenbush said. “We only lost two seniors, so we will definitely be an experienced team. We will have some high goals.”

To help reach those goals, she has been spending a lot of time on the court.

“I’ve definitely been playing a lot and working hard to improve my game. I’ve been spending a lot of time on the court with my dad’s good friend, Rashid Hassan, and it’s helping a lot.”

Though she feels her serve is the strongest part of her game, she said she wants to see improvement.

“I feel that I need to improve my serve and volley game,” Quackenbush said.

She still has two more years of high school, but Quackenbush has started the process of choosing a college.

“I’ll be visiting Findlay University in Ohio soon, and I will meet with the tennis coach,” she said.

The Oilers compete in the Greater Midwest Athletic Conference and last year finished 9-9 with a 4-3 conference mark.

At the moment, she is leaning towards majoring in either veterinary science or criminal science. But her focus is preparing for the fall season.

“I’ll be spending a lot more time on the tennis courts for the rest of the summer,” Quackenbush said. “I think we can do well as a team this fall in the regular season and in the playoffs.”

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