By: Spencer Anderson
When senior tennis player Trang Huynh enrolled at Washington State University in August, her goal was to be closer to her family that lives in California.
"I wanted to be on the West Coast," Huynh said. "When I visited WSU last year, everyone was really welcoming. It feels like a family, everyone just really cares about you. I think that's one of the best things at WSU, and that's why I decided to transfer here."
Head Coach Lisa Hart said that it wasn't just Huynh's tennis abilities that drew her attention.
“She's a really talented tennis player, but I really admired her work ethic and just her personality,” Hart said. “She seemed to me a lot older than her age and very responsible. She's an achiever.”
Huynh won 19 singles matches last year at Troy University, including going 12-4 at the No. 1 position, helping her garner Sun Belt Player of the Year honors in her second season. But her success on the tennis court dates way back to her youth.
Huynh started playing tennis when she was 8 years old, and she won the Vietnam International Junior Tennis Championship in October 2009 at age 16. She said that her experience when she was younger helped with the transition when she moved to the United States.
"It's a bit different for me, because the lifestyle is a little different," Huynh said. "But I also traveled a lot before, playing tournaments, so I got to know different places. But to settle in the United States is a bit different.”
“I try to make Vietnamese food in the time that I can,” she added.
Despite being the only Cougar tennis player originally from Vietnam, she has something in common with all seven of her team members – they all come from foreign countries.
“We try to create a family-type atmosphere,” Hart said. “We try to celebrate difference on our team. Everyone is accepted on our team no matter where they come from or who they are or where they've been. We've had the most successful teams when everyone buys into that. I actually think that everyone being from a different country has been a true asset for us because nobody has family here, so Cougar tennis is everybody's family.”
That family atmosphere extends beyond just the tennis team and into the Pullman community, too. Huynh said she was excited to participate in WSU's annual “Play With a Cougar” event in September. That kind of an opportunity wasn't available in Alabama, and she said she enjoyed herself and had a lot of fun.
In her first year at WSU, Huynh has won 19 singles matches, going into this weekend's doubleheader against Seattle and Northern Arizona.
“She's a joy to coach, really, she's a great one,” Hart said. “She's definitely a perfectionist, she's an achiever, she always wants to do well. Sometimes getting her to not demand perfection from herself is maybe the biggest thing to overcome when coaching her. On the flipside, it's awesome to have players who want to achieve.”
Her achievements have also come off the tennis court as well. Last April, in her final season at Troy University, Huynh was awarded the “Heart of a Warrior” during the inaugural Trojan Tribute award show. Described as an award for student-athletes who have overcome hardships while still maintaining success in both academics and athletics, Huynh said she was given it because she was able to learn English while still achieving higher than a 3.50 GPA. She also speaks Chinese.
“I was really honored to win the award,” Huynh said. “I try my best in everything I do, in tennis and in academics. One of the hard things for me to overcome was the language.”
Hunyh is studying psychology at WSU. No matter what her next step will be after college, her coach knows that she will be successful.
“In general, she's a winner,” Hart said. “I have no doubt she's going to be a winner in whatever she does with her life.”