When she entered high school as a freshman, Morris’ Skyler Saelens hadn’t played tennis competitively. She spent her middle school days as a volleyball and basketball player, but wanted to try something different.

So, she went out for tennis in the fall of her freshman year. After spending a year learning the ins and outs of the game, she won the LaSalle-Peru Sectional title and advanced to the Class 1A state tournament as a singles player in her sophomore season. In her junior season, she paired with teammate Julia Borgstrom, and that team made it to the state tournament, advancing to Day 2.

In her senior season, she returned to being a singles player, and it turned out to be the right choice. She went 32-6 on the season, won the Interstate Eight Conference championship, the Ottawa Sectional championship and went 4-2 at the state tournament, advancing to the consolation quarterfinals. It is believed to be the furthest advancement for a Morris tennis player.

“I hoped to make it pretty far at state,” Saelens said. “I haven’t researched it fully, but it has been speculated that it was the best a Morris girl has ever done.

“I played volleyball up until I was about to start my freshman year. During the summer, I began to think volleyball wasn’t for me because I wasn’t really good at it. I chose tennis instead. I wanted to try something new. I had played just for fun with my family, but never competitively. I couldn’t be happier with the decision I made.”

Morris coach Eric Davy said that Saelens showed up to practice each fall with something new she had worked on during the offseason, whether on the outdoor courts in Morris or at the Five Star Tennis Center in Plainfield.

“It’s a team sport as there are many girls who take the courts,” Davy said. “But Skyler was special as she strove to be the best player on the court. She worked extremely hard on her game, each year implementing a ‘new weapon.’

“She is a fierce competitor. She was second-team All-State in 2024 at doubles and second-team All-State in 2025 at singles, and won a total of nine matches in three state tournaments in a Morris uniform. She definitely left a legacy at Morris for all tennis players to follow. It’s a template that hard work and a little tenacity will enable you to meet your goals.”

Saelens said that the biggest strength of her game was between her ears.

“I had a pretty good ability to strategize on the court,” she said. “I wanted to play smarter, not harder. I also have a lot of perseverance and tenacity. I love to compete and figure out how to win.

“What I like most about tennis is the team aspect. It sounds weird in an individual sport like tennis, but we would cheer each other on when we were done with our own matches, and that really brought us closer as a team. That’s what I will miss the most when I graduate. I will miss the team and the friendships. I don’t remember another sport I played when I was excited to go to practice. Everyone got along so well that we were sad when a practice or match was called off due to the weather. Our coaches [Eric and Sara Davy] made it a better place. They were amazing, not only coaching athletically, but also personally. You could talk to them about anything.”

Late in the regular season, Morris picked up a match against Class 2A Lockport to prepare for the upcoming postseason.

“That match was a last-minute addition,” Saelens said. “The coaches wanted to prepare us for the postseason. I knew Lockport’s No. 1 singles player was really good, but I just wanted to go do my best and see what happens. I beat her, and that felt really good. It put into my head that I could compete at a pretty high level and gave me a boost heading into the postseason.

“Our whole team played well that day, and I think we all benefited from it. That will probably be the match I remember the most.”

Saelens doesn’t plan to play competitively in college, as she has her eyes on attending a Big 10 school to study zoology. Tops on her list at the moment are Wisconsin and Ohio State. But she also doesn’t expect to stop playing altogether.

“A lot of people have asked me if I am going to play in college,” she said. “I might try to find a tennis club or intramurals on campus, but I am going to focus on my academics first.

“It will be hard to not play, but I am sure I will be able to find people that want to go hit around.”