Two months ago, Mary Clayton and Jessica Stiles were seniors in high school undergoing the stresses of school dances, the 7:30 bell, and, of course, college applications.
Fast forward to today and the two are starting athletes on the top women’s tennis team in the country.
“Socially, it’s been fun,” Clayton said. “Everyone’s been welcoming. And honestly, it’s the nicest group I could ask for in a team.”
Beginning their Duke careers in January as opposed to August, the girls are the newest members of the Class of 2013. Although adjusting to college is a daunting task for most students, Clayton and Stiles are challenged to adapt while simultaneously playing on a team poised to repeat as national champions. To top that, the two are jumping right into a freshman class that has already mastered the bus schedule and the Marketplace menu. Yet both say the transition has been relatively smooth due to the camaraderie of the team.
“The first week was pretty hard,” Stiles said. “It was hard trying to get into the schedule of tennis and classes. And you’re away from home, which adds to it. But the team’s been very helpful and I’m feeling settled now.”
“Obviously, the first week was a shock with the amount of reading, but now I’m used to it so it’s more manageable,” Clayton said.
Both Clayton and Stiles said that Duke was a top choice from the beginning of their respective college searches, with the national title playing little role in their decisions to attend. Academics were a bigger factor in their decisions to come to Duke. For Clayton, they were especially important given her family’s background. Her father played tennis at Northwestern, two of her older siblings played at Stanford and her oldest brother played for Harvard. However, Duke was a better fit for her.
“Boston just wasn’t for me,” Clayton said. “Stanford I liked, but I kind of wanted to branch off from my siblings.... And it just clicked for me when I got here. I loved the campus. I loved the team. And, obviously, academically it’s amazing.”
Stiles was likewise attracted to Duke by a multitude of factors.
“I looked at Yale and things like that, but I didn’t think they had a good balance,” Stiles said. “But when I came here and saw the girls were motivating and supporting of each other, that made a difference for me, even more than a national championship.”
As the two have adjusted to life at Duke, Clayton and Stiles have grown particularly close to each other. Both obviously practice together, but see each other often off the court as well. They take classes together, live in the same dorm and eat dinner together regularly.
“Jess and I are really close, and she’ll probably be one of my best friends by the end of the four years,” Clayton said. “From the first day we saw each other here we’ve been really supportive of each other.”
It is obvious that the girls have made a smooth transition on the court. Clayton and Stiles are both undefeated this season, each posting 2-0 singles records. They have won all of their matches in straight sets and have only dropped seven games combined.
As the season progresses and the two get more and more familiar with Duke, both will look to make their marks on the university. They have already become just the second freshman pair in the last five years to win its first two matches.
For now, though, both Clayton and Stiles will just focus on being college kids. But they aren’t going to miss the defining moments of what should be their senior year in high school.
“I’m still going to go back and graduate with the class, which is nice…p and hopefully go to prom,” Stiles said.
And if the two freshmen continue to succeed on the court, they’ll have plenty of occasions for celebration at Duke, too.
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