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College Commitment
Countdown: Badgering Berner
by
Alana Marcu, 7 November 2008
Hannah Berner disappeared from the USTA junior scene as a sophomore in high school. Her decision to leave New York and head down to the Adams Flynn International Tennis Academy in Pembroke Pines, Fla., was one she believed would enhance her tennis game physically and mentally.
Hannah Berner chose the Badgers
© Doug Wrege, TennisRecruiting.net
After spending two years at the tennis-intensive academy, doing online schooling, training for most of the day, and traveling all over the Caribbean and South America to play ITF tournaments, the focused teen returned to her home in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to get back on the college track and gain the recognition her new game deserved.
"Coaches didn't know who I was until Clay Courts," Hannah says. With no ranking - and no evidence of recent USTA play - Berner received a wild card into the Nationals where she needed to showcase her abilities.
"It was at Clay Courts that Brian [Fleishman, head coach at Wisconsin] saw my game," said Hannah. "He said he liked my serve and volley - and I liked that he picked out a specific part of my game."
While Cornell and Penn seemed like appealing prospects for Hannah, the choice became clear after her recruiting trip to Madison.
"My mom went to Cornell and I consider academics a top priority," says Hannah. "But I just felt a bit at home when I visited Wisconsin."
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