Glass’ Klauck named girls tennis player of the year

Sheila Klauck is not your typical Americanteenager.

E.C. Glass’ sophomore No. 1 singles player and The News & Advance All-Area Girls Tennis player of the Year was born in Brazil, where her parents, of German descent, are fifth- and sixth-generation citizens.

Her family moved to China when she was 3 and to Virginia when she was 12 in 2005.

Following her second season with the Hilltoppers, Klauck, 16, traveled the past two weeks in France and Germany, often on her own, and will spend the next two weeks in her native Brazil before returning to Lynchburg to enroll in the Governor’s School at Heritage on July 18.

“She’s a really neat girl, very mature for her age,” Glass coach Jill Murray said. “She’s just an all-around good kid, and I’ve heard her teachers say she’s wonderful to have in the classroom.”

“She’s very friendly,” added Vera Klauck, Sheila’s mom. “(And) she’s independent, able to be by herself.”

Sheila is an excellent student of the game of tennis, which she first picked up in China.

“She had a few lessons (but) communication was a problem because the coach was Chinese,” Vera said. “When we moved to the United States, we lived close to The Sports Racket (in Lynchburg), and she enjoyed it more,” receiving instruction from Joel Moylan, among others.

After shooting up from the No. 7 singles seed as a freshman to No. 1 at Glass this year, Klauck will try to retain that rung on the ladder next spring, with plenty of competition from rising seniors Taylor Riley and Kaitlin Swann, who formed the Hilltoppers’ No. 1 doubles duo.

“Kaitlin wants that No. 1 spot badly and I’m sure Taylor would like to have that No. 1 spot, too,” Murray said. “She’s doing the things she needs to do to keep it.”

That is, taking lessons and participating in clinics and tournaments year-round.

As a freshman, Murray direct subbed Klauck in at No. 1 and she beat Patrick Henry’s top player.

“She did some amazing things and played a lot over the summer and improved her game,” Murray said. “This year, coming through, she surprised the girls with how much she improved.

“She’s been able to develop … a weapon with her serve and a weapon with her forehand,” she added. “She doesn’t believe she’s a good volleyer, but she is an all-court player. She has good hands and good reflexes and she’s pretty quick. And the velocity with which she hits the ball makes it tough for the other girls to do anything with it.”

Klauck finished 9-3 overall and 7-3 in Western Valley District play at No. 1 singles, also going 6-1 at No. 2 doubles playing with Caty-Betz Holcolm, the No. 6 singles seed.

In district play, she lost twice to GW-Danville’s top-seeded Betsey Ezell — the second time in the district individual singles tournament final — and once to Franklin County’s Kristen Bowling, but beat everybody else.

“She played well all year,” Murray said. “Only the girl from Danville had her number.”

In a sport where many of the top players exude confidence, her only fault may be her humility.

“She is very shy,” Vera Klauck said. “She doesn’t talk much, or brag about her excellent grades or things like that.”

“She’s extremely modest about it,” Murray added, noting she wouldn’t like talking about herself if she were available to be interviewed for this story. “She would do it because she’s polite, but it would make her uncomfortable.

“I don’t think she’s realized how good she is,” she added. “She tends to get down on herself if she makes mistakes.”

In one match this season, playing against a girl she normally would have beaten easily, Klauck struggled with her own game, not so much her opponent’s.

“I told her, ‘You’re not Top-100 in the world, you’re going to make mistakes,’” Murray said. “’You’ve got to accept it and roll with it, and don’t let one mistake turn into three or four.’ That’s one of the hardest things about tennis.”

Murray believes Klauck could challenge for the Group AA state title next spring, Glass’ first competing at that classification after shifting to the Seminole District.

“The potential’s there for her to do what she wants to do with it,” she said. “If she maintains the same level of interest, she could be a state contender.”

Her mom says she wants to do well not only for herself, but for her teammates.

“She loves the team,” Vera Klauck said. “She has big dreams and I admire that in her.”