Senior tennis player Christa Gecheva knew that when she came to the United States that she wanted to be a Cowgirl. In London she was ranked sixth in the county, she was 55th on the AEGON British Tennis Rankings and had three Top 16 finishes on the AEGON British Tour.
“I love nature, and animals, wildlife all that kind of thing. So I love the setting and the surroundings of Laramie and Wyoming,” Gecheva said. “I also kind of wanted to get away from the big city. When I knew I was leaving home to come to America, to play tennis and study, I knew that if I was going to take this big step, I might as well go all out.”
From age 10, Christa knew tennis was her calling despite her involvement in soccer and a lengthy track career as a long distance runner.
“When I was 9 or 10 and a friend of mine invited me to play tennis with her mom. [They] took me to the tennis courts, and I played against her and her mom and I beat them having not played much tennis before. They were like, ‘oh you are really good, and you should really try and take this up.’ And that’s what kind of gave me the first kick start.”
What sold Gecheva on Wyoming was something that Cowgirls head coach Dean Clower admires most about his team, its tight knit family vibe. The group of upperclassmen on the team at the time really impacted Gecheva’s decision and ultimately drew her to commit to UW.
Coach Clower recalls that things weren’t always so team oriented for Gecheva who was very reserved in her first year as a Cowgirl. It was near her sophomore year that she had what coach Clower calls “a complete 180” and developed in her role as part of the team.
“Christa brings numerous things to the table, she’s one of the hardest workers we’ve had since I’ve been here. She’s one that’s always early, never late. You never have to tell Christa to work harder, sometimes I actually have to tell her to relax and take a day off,” coach Clower said, “I call her dog, short for bulldog, that’s Christa”
Gecheva’s work ethic is well documented in her 15-8 overall season her sophomore year, followed by impressive tournament play her junior year. In her senior year, Gecheva is ranked 21st in singles play victories with 44 recorded wins and 20th in doubles with 37 victories.
“She leads as ‘these are my sisters’ and yeah sometimes she gets mad at them, but at the end of the day we’re a family,” coach Clower said.
The Cowgirls tennis 8-woman roster features four seniors including Gecheva, all whom have been playing together since their freshman year. Jessica Parizher, Silviya Zhelyazkova and Alma Espinosa all started their collegiate careers on the same court, and this year will finish those careers together as team veterans and leaders.
“The upper classmen we have are like daughters to me. I love them because they have gone through the grind and they know what it takes and now they try to tell the younger ones what it took and what it’s going to take,” coach Clower said. “I have a firm philosophy that the best teams in the world are run from within, and I think with the four seniors we have know that is them, it hits the nail on the head. They really bring that family atmosphere to everybody on the team.”
The Cowgirls continue their spring play at 4-4 overall having just swept Illinois State 7-0, their third sweep of the spring season. They will face Iowa and Drake on March 7th and 8th on the road before returning to Laramie to host Montana. In the middle of the spring season, time is dwindling down as the Cowgirls prepare for a final push at the Mountain West championships before their team vets are gone for good.
“You always want to do better than last year,” Gecheva said looking forward to her final year as a Cowgirl. “For the most part I want to work on not battling myself when I play matches and just enjoy these last few matches and fight. If you really just give it your all and you are fighting, it really is just so much fun. So if I can do that for every match, even if I lose every match, if I give everything that I have [and] leave blood, sweat and tears on the court, then I’ll be satisfied.”
