From the Tennis Court to the Court Room – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Nov. 5, 2002
Student-athletes have a lot of responsibilities. Between class, practice, exams and competition, something is always being demanded of them. While most strive to achieve greatness in athletics, too many miss out on all of the available educational opportunities.
Michelle Matko, a fifth-year senior on the woman’s tennis team, handles both academics and athletics extremely well. She has racked up the sixth-most wins in program history with a career record of 71-37 while earning four OSU Scholar-Athlete honors. She has been named Academic All-Big Ten twice and still has one year of eligibility remaining.
Matko has made the most of her time as a student. While working on a double major in marketing and transportation logistics, both in the highly acclaimed Fisher College of Business, it is a wonder she finds time to play tennis. Add a minor in communications and it sounds like she has her hands full with just being a student, let alone being a student-athlete.
It is obvious Matko must like taking classes, but remember that she is a great competitor on the tennis court.
At the age of 6, Matko began watching tennis at her swim club in Aurora, Ill. Instead of hanging out at the pool all summer, she asked her parents to sign her up for the tennis program. Soon, she was winning tournaments held at the club and her younger twin sisters, Stephanie and Natalie, who are now juniors on the DePaul tennis team, began to take an interest.
“I started winning trophies and my sisters liked them so they began to play as well,” Matko said.
At West Aurora High School, Matko had four great years on her way to the best record in school history with an outstanding 148-6 mark. She was part of two state championship teams and was runner-up in the Illinois individual state championship as a senior.
Wearing the Scarlet and Gray, Matko has shown promise as she recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons her freshman and sophomore years. It was at the end of her sophomore year and beginning of her junior year when injuries attacked her athletic career. She had to take a medical redshirt after four matches her junior year because her knee required orthopedic surgery.
During 2001-02 season, Matko returned and posted a 22-13 overall singles record, mostly at the No. 4 spot. Disaster struck once again when a pain in her foot started to give her problems. Further medical assessment reveled that bone spurs were the cause of her discomfort and she would have to undergo surgery again.
“It’s very frustrating,” Matko said. “I try to keep a positive outlook. I get a lot of support from my family. The coaching staff and the rest of the team is supportive. I keep telling myself that everything happens for a reason and it will all work out.”
Because of the surgery, Matko had to bypass summer training before her final season. Luckily she found a way to spend it by studying law at the oldest English-speaking college in the world, the University of Oxford in England.
“Being at Oxford was an amazing experience,” Matko said. “We did a lot. We visited the parliament and talked with the members about their system of government. It was a great trip. I took my racket, but I never had a chance to play.”
Matko now is in the process of applying to law schools located closer to her parents’ home in Chicago. Schools such as Northwestern, DePaul, Illinois and Notre Dame will be glad to receive an application from this accomplished Buckeye. What about the business undergraduate degree? It should come in handy as she works toward a joint Juris Doctorate and master’s degree in Business Administration.
“I just love business classes,” Matko said, “and I love the law. Law is exciting and intellectually stimulating. They both really interest me.”
Matko discovered interest in the law during an internship at a family law practice during the summer of 2000. It was in this setting where Matko realized she could most help people.
“I would deal with several people a day and assist them with divorces and other various family problems,” Matko said about the internship. “It was nice to be able to offer help to people who really needed it.”
So far, Matko has excelled in her academic endeavors at Ohio State. Her method is simple yet it is one many students could learn from. Attending class alone is not enough; she also seeks help from her instructors when she has any questions about the class.
“I’ve had great professors,” Matko said. “I’ll go into their office and talk to them on a weekly basis. There, they can help me if I’m having trouble and I can try to build a relationship with them.”
Another resource she takes full advantage of is the Student Athlete Support Services Organization (SASSO), which assists students-athletes by offering study tables, tutoring and advising. Matko has worked with James Hall, the academic advisor for tennis the last four years.
“Michelle is a very serious and conscientious student,” Hall said. “She is very dedicated, persistent and determined.”
Before Matko starts the next chapter in her academic career, she still has some business left on the court. Ohio State head Coach Chuck Merzbacher has high expectations for her final season.
“I look for her, as a fifth-year senior, to help us at the top of the line up and provide the leadership we need to win a Big Ten championship,” Merzbacher said. “This year Michelle will be setting records and establishing herself as one of the great players in our program.”
For the last three years, Ohio State women’s tennis has been third in the Big Ten. Matko would like her last year as a Buckeye to end a little differently.
“I hope to return my senior year and help our team win a Big Ten title,” Matko said. “It’s right there, I know we can do it. I know it’s going to take a lot of hard work and determination. If we could win that then my years at Ohio State would be more than complete.”
