When friends of Lize Leenknecht began receiving tennis scholarships to universities, a dream was born and a journey began – that journey took her from Belgium to the Palouse.

Leenknecht, now a sophomore, is living her dream of competing at the collegiate level in tennis, which she started playing at the age of four.

“When I got the opportunity to come here, I immediately said yes,” she said. ”That’s what I wanted to do.”

Before she made her decision, WSU Tennis Head Coach Lisa Hart flew out to the Dutch region in Belgium where Leenknecht lived, convincing her to become a Cougar.

“She (Hart) really cares about us, she’s kind of a mom for us.  [The coaches] get the best out of people not even on the court, but in the classroom, as a person, they motivate you in a lot of ways,” Leenknecht said.

Hart’s decision to bring in Leenknecht has proven to be a great one. The team, along with Leenknecht, has brought in a good number of victories for the Crimson and Gray. Leenknecht herself has won multiple tournament events, including last weekend’s first place finish in No. 2 singles flight during the WSU Invitational.

With workouts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Leenknecht is always working to become better a tennis player. She said she wants the team to be ranked as high as possible and contend for NCAA greatness.

“It’s not how I win, but how the team wins,” Leenknecht said.  “I want to work, and if the whole team works hard, we’re going to get there. I think everyone on our team is motivating each other really well to get to a really great level.”

No members of the tennis team were born in the United States, and Leenknecht said that their backgrounds help bring them together.

 “We’re all from a different country, so we all kind of have the same issue with homesickness and we try to help each other out,” she said. “We understand each other. English is not our first language; it helps us get along on the court as well as off the court.”