Scholar Stories: Fahey Finds Success Thanks to Competitive Drive
11/22/2017 12:54:00 PM | Women's Tennis, Features
Continuing the popular series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Prairie Farms.
By Austin Turner
There are two sides to Kate Fahey.
When she's not on court playing tennis, she'll kill you with kindness. Nobody's nicer.
But between the lines, a totally different person comes out. Watch her play and you'll see she's relentlessly competitive, showing no mercy nor fear to the unfortunate player on the other side of the net. She's ferocious, fired-up and, sometimes, downright intimidating.
After the match? Back to happy-go-lucky Kate, at least after wins.
Winning, she's done a lot of that. Now a junior on the University of Michigan women's tennis team, Fahey is 67-15 in singles matches, playing no lower than the No. 3 spot in the lineup. Last year, she went 36-7, made the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship and earned ITA All-America honors.
That ability to flip the switch from rosy to ruthless has allowed Fahey to find success over and over again.
"I am just a competitive person, and I want to work as hard as I can in everything that I do," she said. "I think that shows on the tennis court and in the classroom."
Success on the court has not caused Fahey, an Academic All-Big Ten pick last year, to lose sight of the importance of an education. Majoring in international studies with a sub-plan in economic and political development and double-minoring in business and Spanish, Fahey continues to go above and beyond.
Valuing both athletic development and a strong educational foundation is what brought Fahey to Michigan.
"I felt like at Michigan, I could really get a good education," she said. "Ronni (Bernstein) and Teryn (Ashley-Fitch) are both really great coaches who want to develop their student-athletes over four years, and that's also what I was really looking for."
But just how is Fahey able to put so much time into her sport and still succeed in the classroom? The answer: time management.
"I feel like as a student-athlete, I almost have it better than those who don't play sports," she explained. "Because my time is so regimented, I know exactly how much time I have, so I just sit down and do it. Having a schedule helps me focus."
Fahey hopes to use her economic development and business backgrounds to eventually get into business consulting or business development. But those are plans for the distant future; Kate has her eyes set on other dreams and aspirations in the short term.
"Ever since I was a little girl, my goal has been to play professional tennis," she said. "I want to turn pro after graduating, but I am not sure for how long. That depends on how I do."
It's an ambitious goal, but doing well in sports is not unfamiliar to the Fahey family. Her younger brother and only sibling, Matt, plays baseball at Manhattan College in the Bronx. Though both were -- and still are -- very competitive in their respective sports, the sibling rivalry while growing up remained minimal.
"We both grew up playing tennis, but he stopped once I started playing very competitively," she explained. "Of course, I wanted a hitting partner, but I am not sure he wanted the same. He was more into playing the typical sports, like baseball and basketball, which I grew up playing, too, but I picked tennis when I was pretty young."
Even without her brother as a hitting partner, Fahey kept improving and kept winning, making the idea of being a professional seem more and more realistic. After choosing to be homeschooled for her junior year of high school, Fahey returned to play high school tennis at Rumson-Fair Haven her senior year. She went on to win the 2015 New Jersey Singles Championship and was named the 2015 National High School Tennis Player of the Year.
"It was a huge accomplishment," she said of the award. "After being homeschooled junior year in order to play more tennis, it was a tough decision to go back to school and play for a high school team. But I am really glad that I got to represent my high school and the community one last time."
Growing up, Fahey made frequent trips to Arthur Ashe Stadium to see her heroes play in the U.S. Open. Someday, Fahey hopes to return and find people in the same seats she used to sit in.
Only this time, they'll be watching her.
Players Mentioned
