Alumni Interview: Rebecca Ho

Did someone ask for another D3ASW interview? *no one raises hand* That’s ok, this actually wasn’t *technically* my interview. We had someone who was interested in becoming the Central women’s writer over the summer and I had them do an interview to get their feet wet. Unfortunately they weren’t able to commit to writing for us this year due to other life things, but ultimately it worked out because we now have our current Central Women’s writer and she’s the bomb.

So I was left with a mostly finished interview that has been sitting in an open tab on my laptop for the last 4 months. It’s really a shame because I was super excited about reaching this alumnus for an interview and was hoping to post it at the end of summer. I don’t need to tell you how that turned out. I’m glad I’m finally getting to sit down and put this together.

Today’s alum is with Wash U women’s superstar Rebecca Ho. The California native graduated in 2017 and holds the Wash U all-time wins record with a 191-58 career record. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, she was a 7 time All-American (3 singles, 4 doubles), and ended her singles career by reaching the finals of the NCAA Singles Tournament. She has millions of other achievements (very nicely outlined here, good job Wash U website person) but you get the point. Off the tennis court, Ho was no slouch in the classroom either, majoring in Electrical Engineering, and has been keeping very busy after graduation as well. She’s a really great example of the well-rounded athletes that D3 is so proud of. Check out what she had to say below!

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The Blog (Our ghost writer wrote some of the questions and I wrote some of the questions so we will collectively be The Blog): What a treat to be able to interview you! It was very nice of Coach Stahlhuth to put us in contact with you! We’ll start from the top. What made you choose to play D3 tennis when you were so highly ranked as a junior?

Rebecca Ho in 2014. As if it isn’t enough that she is a tennis phenom, she can also pull off bangs. Mad respect.

RH: I had a lot of success as a junior and was recruited by colleges across all division levels, but I knew I wanted to go to a school where I could balance academics and athletics.  I decided some time in high school that I wanted to study engineering, but I didn’t want to go to an exclusively engineering school.  I also wanted to have a larger university experience, but not too large.  Once I narrowed down my list of schools, I visited a lot of campuses across all divisions.  I thought Washington University had a beautiful campus and I liked that the university is located in a suburb and close to a large city.  I met Coach Kelly and we hit it off.  I especially liked that Kelly had been an amazing college athlete herself.  She wanted everyone to have a really good student-athlete experience and I could tell that’s what she was all about.

The Blog: How did you prepare for matches? Did your routine differ for high-stakes matches?

RH: I honestly didn’t have a set routine.  I wanted to play as much as I could, but academics were my first priority.  Sometimes my classes and academic workload interfered with team practices, and I had to find other people to hit with.  I practiced with a lot of different people, including members of the men’s team, members of the club tennis team, a former D1 player who was completing her Ph.D at Washington University, and even several professors.  Above everyone else though, I think I enjoyed hitting with Kelly the most.  She warmed me up before many of my matches, and she was so good that other players and coaches would come up to me and comment on how good she was.

The Blog: Wow! I had no idea Coach Kelly was such a stud! I think stories like yours showcase what is great about D3. You were practicing with high quality players and were very successful, despite prioritizing your rigorous academic load, and you didn’t have to worry about being punished for putting school first. Speaking of your many successes, in 2017 you reached the finals of the NCAA Singles tournament and had a 3-set grind in the championship match against Eudice Chong. Tell me about that exciting match.

RH: I went into the championship match with a strategy.  I usually hit pretty low and try to overpower my opponents, but I already knew going into the championship match that I had to change things up against Eudice, because I had already played her twice before.  The first time I played Eudice, I played terribly, was blown out, and learned nothing.  Our second match was pretty close and I felt that I could have forced a third set if I had played some points better.  So, in the championship match, I tried to make points longer and mix in different types of shots.  In the end, it just didn’t work out in my favor.

The Blog: What does breaking Wash U All-Time wins record mean to you?

Catch Rebecca hitting the ball an inch over the net. Who needs net clearance when you have nerves of steel?

RH: It means a lot and I’m happy to hold the wins record at Washington University.  Prior to my senior year, the thought of actually breaking the record never crossed my mind.  People had mentioned the record to me, but I knew I needed to win over 50 matches in my senior year to surpass Debbie Michelson’s record.  I didn’t think I was actually going to win as many doubles matches as I did because doubles can go either way.  Fortunately, Kaylan and I ended up pulling out almost all of our doubles matches in the central region and that was what really enabled me to break the record.

The Blog: You’ve made many solo accomplishments in your career, but what were some of your favorite moments with the team? 

RH: Definitely all of the team dinners and bus rides.  There was one time when one of my teammates left her phone at a restaurant and didn’t realize it until we were 30 minutes away.  That wasn’t a favorite moment for me at the time, but it’s kind of funny in retrospect.  It was also a major accomplishment for the team each time we made it to the Elite Eight.  I remember there was one year when I was there that we didn’t make it.  We lost to Sewanee 4-5 in the round of 32, but the entire match was a memorable experience.  The team was down at one point like 1-4 and was able to come back to 4-4.  One of our seniors at the time was the deciding match and actually was up like 5-2 and had six match points, but ended up losing in a third-set tiebreak.  After the match, I don’t think you could tell that we had lost, because everyone was so supportive of each other.

The Blog: It’s funny how some of the low moments at the time become some of the ones we look back fondly on! What are you doing now? Is tennis still a big part of your life?

RH: I work as radio frequency engineer at Lockheed Martin in California.  I work in the antennas division, so I design and test antennas for airplanes.  I’m also pursuing my masters in electrical and computer engineering from Johns Hopkins.  I still play tennis with some of my high school friends who were college tennis players themselves, but I don’t get to play as much as I want to because I’m so busy with work and school.

The Blog: Wow sounds like you are keeping really busy! How did you manage to balance being an engineering major with being one of Wash U’s most decorated players of all time? 

One of Ho’s many accolades was Senior of the Year in 2017

 

It definitely wasn’t easy, but I was able to balance my tennis and class schedules most of the time.  I had to miss some team practices and workouts, but luckily there was almost always someone available to hit with.  Kelly was really helpful in that she took the time to introduce me to potential hitting partners.  I remember she even introduced me to several potential recruits who just so happened to live in the St. Louis area.

The Blog: Have you picked up any other non-tennis hobbies since graduation?

If I’m not playing tennis, I actually spend almost all of my time outside of work either studying for my masters or watching Korean dramas.  I’ve been thinking about taking up other sports, like golf, but just haven’t really found the time to learn.

The Blog: Have you been able to keep in touch with your teammates/coaches after graduation? 

RH: I definitely keep in touch with Kelly here and there.  Along with being my coach, she was a great friend and mentor, so I’m always rooting for her and the tennis team.  It does feel strange though because everyone I knew on the team has graduated or is about to graduate.

The Blog: I know the feeling! Welcome to oldness. It wouldn’t be a good interview if I didn’t ask you about your favorite pre/post match snacks. What’s your go to?

Maybe don’t drink chocolate shakes but ChickfilA Frosted Coffee is ASW Pre-Match approved

RH: Actually I eat way better now than I did when I was on the team.  When I was on the team, I pretty much ate whatever I wanted to before or after matches, which sometimes was not the best idea.  I remember I had a huge chocolate milkshake before one of my matches when I was a freshman or a sophomore and felt sick for hours.

Blog: Finally, give us some bold predictions for Wash U Women’s Tennis in the 2020 season. 

RH: It’s kind of difficult because I don’t know most of the players on the team, but I think Kelly’s strengths has always been in teaching doubles.  Every year Kelly puts together a very competitive schedule, and I think that Wash U will be a contender in every match because Kelly puts together strong doubles teams and teaches double strategy very well.

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There you have it folks. Don’t drink chocolate milkshakes before matches. If you have any sports recommendations for Rebecca leave them in the comments! So many thanks to Rebecca for agreeing to talk to me and the potential writer and for her patience while we took approximately forever to get this published!

I know this is a tennis website and not a Korean Drama website (potential article series idea??) but I asked Rebecca for some Kdrama recs and she did not disappoint. I’m working my way through Signal, which has the Rebecca Ho Stamp of Approval. It’s on Netflix if you want to watch along with. Or if you have any more Kdrama recommendations for me leave them in the comments!

If you or anyone else you know is a D3 alum and want to do an interview with the Blog, please get in touch! It’s always fun to see what people are up to after their tennis glory days, and the best part about it is how successful our D3 tennis alumni are.

Finally, stay tuned for some ITA Cup coverage this week featuring all the bloggers! At least, all the women’s bloggers; I can’t speak for the men’s side. Until then, get pumped!

-ASW

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