At the age of 22, senior Meghan Cassens has had many ups and downs in her life that led to winning the championship at the Gopher Invitational to start this season.

Cassens grew up in Tacoma, Wash., and learned the sport of tennis from her father. Her father, John Cassens, was a college tennis player at Illnois State and the head tennis coach at Decatur High School, as well as Seattle University.

“That was something my dad wanted to give to me,” Cassens said. “He’s been my coach my entire life.”

Cassens knew she wanted to come to the Midwest to play collegiate tennis, and Gonzaga and Iowa State allowed her to commit early. Iowa State was a bigger school than Gonzaga and Cassens said she liked the campus at Iowa State.

She knew ISU coach Armando Espinosa and assistant coach Chris Williams while being recruited, but the staff changed when she started her freshman year. Instead of Williams being the assistant coach, Rodrigo Puebla took the position for three years, something that was unexpected for Cassens.

“My freshman and sophomore year was tough because we did have a different assistant coach,” Cassens said. “I think the atmosphere was a little more negative.”

Cassens has been a player for the Iowa State tennis team for all four years. In her freshman year, she wasn’t as close to the other two seniors, Caroline Hauge Andersen and Ksenia Pronina, as she is now.

Throughout her sophomore, junior and senior year, Cassens has started forming a strong friendship with Andersen and Pronina.

“We’ve been through a lot throughout these years,” Cassens said. “I feel like without each other we wouldn’t have made it through the four years.”

As a senior, Cassens needs to be ready to lead the team this year along with Andersen and Pronina. Many of the freshman and sophomore players rely on past experiences from the older players to become better athletes.

“If they [the seniors] don’t have a match, they act as a coach for the younger players and help them through their match,” said sophomore Talisa Merchiers.

Even though Andersen, Cassens and Pronina are all seniors, they continue to learn from one another.

“Cassens is from the states and she knows most of the competition that we play against, so she can give me a good scouting report,” Andersen said. 

Cassens is grateful playing four years at Iowa State and looks forward to having a career in business but reflects on her experience with the team.

“The spring is where we’re closest,” Cassens said. “Traveling has allowed me to be more one-on-one with the players, which is great.”

Cassens also had a few other memories on the court with big wins and self-motivation moments.

“Winning doubles against TCU last year was a big moment for us because we struggled in doubles,” Cassens said. “Also, we beat Kansas during my freshman year and that was my first Big 12 singles match win in my career.”

Cassens is looking forward to the ITA Regionals on October 15-18 and competing in her last regular season at Iowa State.