Junior Caroline Pollock’s serve-and-volley game a rarity in tennis
A lack of patience isn’t always a bad thing.
For Utah State University tennis player Caroline Pollock, it has turned her into somewhat of a rarity in tennis: A woman who plays serve-and-volley.
“I don’t have the patience to stay back and play long points,” Pollock said. “It’s a quicker game up [at the net].”
Unlike most players who are ground strokers – content with staying back at the baseline and receiving the ball, Pollock moves up to the net after serving.
“Very rarely in women’s tennis do you see a serve-and-volleyer,” assistant coach Jevin West said. “In fact, you don’t see them very much in the pro circuit. When you find one it’s very unusual. It’s like a gem because they can do things that others can’t.”
After she serves, Pollock moves forward, plays one ball in transition and then is up at the net to finish out the point.
The reason most players don’t play serve-and-volley is the difficulty in hitting the shot in transition, West said.
“To get to the net you have to go through that transition,” he said. “The reason why it’s tough is the ball is coming fast. Once you get to the net it’ s OK, but it’s that transition that’s really the hard part.”
When Pollock is at the net she has a distinct advantage, West said.
“Once you’re to the net, if you do get your racket on [the ball], you have better angles, the ball comes off quicker so it’s harder for the people to react to it, and you can do a lot of shots,” he said. “The way she volleys when she’s focused, she’s one of the best out there.”
The scarcity of serve-and-volley players also creates another advantage, West said.
“Some opponents have never seen it in all of their college career,” he said. “To see a serve-and-volleyer they don’t know what to do. That’s why sometimes [Pollock] can really walk through people.”
Though Pollock generally plays serve-and-volley, West said she isn’t one-dimensional.
“She’s still an all-court player because she can play in the backcourt as well as anyone on the team,” he said.
Pollock, who was born in Torrance, Calif., started playing tennis at the age of 7.
She said she began playing because her grandfather always wanted his grandchildren to play tennis.
It was while in California that she developed her serve-and-volley game.
“My coach in California was big into volleys,” she said. “He had a serve-and-volley game and I just liked watching him play. He really drilled us in volleys all the time and I just got to have good hands and my volleys became stronger than my ground stroke.”
After living in California, Pollock moved to Park City with her family shortly before starting high school.
She said her family decided to move to Utah because they had vacationed here and wanted to get away from the congestion of Los Angeles. She also said she has family here.
Pollock played tennis at Park City High School, graduating in 1999. She earned MVP honors all four years she played.
Following her graduation, Pollock decided to attend the University of New Mexico.
Most schools don’t do much recruiting for tennis, Pollock said. Instead, the players contact schools they are interested in.
“I sent out a bunch of video tapes, talked to the people who responded and made a couple of visits,” she said.
The decision was between the University of Cincinnati, the University of Houston and UNM because those schools offered her scholarships, Pollock said.
She said she chose UNM because of the campus. It had the best team of the three and was closer to home than the other two schools.
Pollock played for two years at New Mexico before transferring to Utah State last fall to be closer to home and to play in a different environment.
“It’s a completely different atmosphere there [UNM],” she said. “They’re nice people there but it just wasn’t my crowd. I just feel more comfortable here.”
USU Head Coach Chris Wright said, “She was just a gift. She knew some of the girls on the team here and was interested in coming up. We spoke and we said ‘we’d love to have you here.'”
While at UNM, Pollock only played doubles and said she wasn’t playing where she wanted to in the lineup.
For the Aggies, she is playing in the No. 3 singles spot as well as at No. 1 doubles.
In singles Pollock owns a 6-4 record while with doubles partner Sarah Lowe she is 3-7.
After this season, Pollock will have one year of eligibility remaining before finishing school next spring with a degree in biology.
Pollock said after graduation she would like to continue schooling so she can become a physician’s assistant.
Wright said versatility is the biggest thing Pollock brings to the team.
“She’s a good all-court player,” he said. “She can serve-and-volley. She can stay back. She’s a good singles player. She’s a good doubles player.”
Both Wright and West also said she fits in very well on the team.
“She’s very coachable,” Wright said. “She wants to continue to take her game to new levels. She’s very good to her teammates. She’s been very positive and she’s definitely been a boost.”
West said, “She’s always got a good attitude and she’s always got a smile. She’s one of those girls that everyone likes.”