El Capitan’s Yarrell is Sun-Star Girls Tennis Player of the Year

Jenasis Yarrell didn’t bat an eye at the prospect of taking on older competition.

The El Capitan High School freshman had been competing in tennis tournaments against kids three to four years her senior since she was 7 years old. If anything, skipping a grade presented new challenges to which Yarrell longed to rise.

Rise she did.

Yarrell stormed through the Central California Conference as the Gauchos’ No. 1 singles player, not dropping a single set en route to an undefeated regular season. She didn’t slow down for the CCC Tournament, turning away all comers in straight sets as well. Her 6-1, 6-4 victory over Golden Valley’s Chadue Lee earned her the CCC singles title and was as close as she came to losing a match all season.

The dominant run helped earn her the nod as Sun-Star Girls Tennis Player of the Year.

“I knew what I had the very first day she was out there,” El Capitan coach Robert Quall said. “Admittedly, I’ve only been coaching one year, but I’m guessing she’s a once-in-a-lifetime talent. I’m not even sure how good she can be because she was never pressed.

“The one thing that’s certain is when other girls tried to start hitting hard, they couldn’t keep up with her pace. She could return a hard-hit shot at twice the speed. The CCC final is as close as anyone came to taking a set off of her, and she was hospitalized with pneumonia a few days later.”

The hospital visit cost Yarrell an opportunity to show what she could do in the postseason. She missed El Capitan’s second-round exit in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I team playoffs and the Division I singles tournament.

It was about the only thing that went wrong for Yarrell in 2016.

“I was definitely disappointed not to play, but there’s always next year,” Yarrell said. “I did want to see if I could compete with the best of the best. I thought it was a good season overall. I wasn’t really sure what to expect going up to the high school level.

“It wasn’t that big of an adjustment, because I’ve played against older kids most of my life. Most of my friends are older. Skipping a grade may have forced me to mature a little faster, but that’s not a bad thing. Going undefeated is tough, no matter what level you’re at, so doing that is really special to me.”

The daughter of a former tennis star and a runner, Yarrell spliced the family genes into the area’s best all-around game. From her big first serve to her powerful forehand and excellent footwork, Yarrell was capable of beating opponents in several ways.

“A lot of my earliest memories are me out on a tennis court,” Yarrell said. “There’s a ton of pictures of me running around with a tennis racket in my hand. Growing up, there was no question I was going to play it. Somewhere along the way, I began to love it.

“I love the adrenaline and pressure of playing in tournaments,” she said, adding she planned to take December off “and then start playing in USTA Tournaments again in January. There’s still plenty of things I need to get better at. Hopefully, I can have an even better season next year.”

This story was originally published December 25, 2016 at 3:38 PM with the headline "El Capitan’s Yarrell is Sun-Star Girls Tennis Player of the Year."