Grant girls learn tennis the easy way
Off to college: Scholarships will keep them together
Grant girls learn tennis the easy way

By Robert Przybylo

Published: July 26, 2008

Gladys Rocha picked up a tennis racquet for the first time two years ago. She had no knowledge of the game and was going out because one of her best friends, Jacqueline Morales, wouldn't leave her alone.

Two years later Morales still won't leave her alone. And for the next four years, the girls, as well as Selena Espinoza, will never leave each other alone.

The three girls are the last pupils of retiring U.S. Grant tennis coach Bill Pendarvis. Known for taking boys and girls who had never played the sport and turning them into something, Pendarvis has stepped down after 35 years. The girls are all on their way to Kansas Wesleyan University.

"He made us understand the game but in a fun way,” Rocha said. "We would do things and not even realize we were learning about the game.”

Rocha's favorite was the chair game. A chair was placed at various places on the court. The girls had to hit a particular shot before they could move on.

It was those little things that made all the girls go out for tennis after having never played the sport.

"Coach Pendarvis was my geography teacher, and he had so much passion for the sport,” Morales said. "At the time, there were only about two or three girls actually on the team. But he made it a great experience.”

Their different personalities help the girls mesh so well together. Espinoza is the outgoing one, Morales the jokester and nobody works harder than Rocha, according to Morales. Espinoza and Morales were doubles partners at U.S. Grant and hope to stay that way in college.

There were troubles along the way. By high school, most tennis kids already have years of experience and personal lessons. Learning the sport sometimes didn't always come as fast as the girls would have liked, but Pendarvis never let them get down about anything.

"These girls never gave up,” Pendarvis said. "It really wasn't about winning or losing but more about the lessons they were learning. That's the kind of stuff that goes beyond the tennis court.”

The girls never placed at the state tennis tournament. But they did qualify, which was more than enough for them to feel happy.

Morales said it still hasn't really hit her that all three will be going to the same college to play a sport that used to be so foreign to them.

For Rocha, it was another situation. She gave up her love of soccer to pursue tennis. Now she's glad she did.

"The transition wasn't that hard, because there was so much support and encouragement from everybody,” Rocha said.

A support system that will carry to Kansas Wesleyan.

"This is so special for us to all be together,” Morales said. "It's kind of scary to think about it all. But I can't wait for the experience.”

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