»Joshua Stephenson, Staff Writer
Many times, players go from being the top player at their high school to being a small fish in a very big pond at the collegiate level.
Sometimes players can’t adjust and they burnout while others thrive with the competition and rise to the top. APSU No. 1 Women’s Tennis player, Alison Carre is thriving, but she also had a handicap.
“When I got here I couldn’t speak English,” Carre, a native of France, said. “I couldn’t say two words.” Carre laughs thinking back to that first month on campus. “At the beginning it was very hard, and to be honest, I cried many times.”
The language barrier caused a little tension with her teammates at the first part of her freshman season.
“My teammates told me that in the beginning they wondered why I wasn’t speaking,” the Pre-season First team All-Ohio Valley Conference player said. “They thought it was because I was big headed or wanted to be left alone, but it was because I couldn’t speak English.”
After the first month with her teammates her communication with them improved.
“I told them that in France, French people are very bad at English,” Carre said with a laugh, “and after that they helped me a lot.” That help has really assisted Carre flourish on the tennis court.
After the rough start to her freshman season, due to the language barrier, Carre picked up her play and finished the season strong.
At the start of her sophomore campaign she was looked upon as one of the best players in the OVC and she hasn’t disappointed with a 9-7 singles record (team best) and an 8-5 doubles record (tied for second on team).
Carre, who is 6-4 in her last 10 singles matches and 8-2 in doubles, said she really has no preference between singles or doubles.
“I like to play both,” Carre, who is majoring in HHP with plans to be a physical therapist, said.
“I like playing doubles with my teammates but also like singles because if I mess up I know it’s my fault.”
Carre has high hopes for herself and the tennis team while she is at APSU.
“I really want to win the OVC conference championship as a team and also win OVC player of the year.”
Carre is a rising star in the OVC women’s tennis ranks and has one main goal for her career while she is a Lady Gov.
“I want to win as many matches as possible while I’m here.”
