HER goal was simply to do her best and compete, but Eglinton tennis talent Grace Schumacher has been doing more than just that since joining the University of South Florida Bulls women's squad.
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She has been winning.
Despite being new to the American college system, the freshman has won four of her five completed singles matches for the Bulls thus far.
It means she is certainly achieving the goal she set herself.
"My goal is to just do the best I can and compete as best as I can," Schumacher said before her debut.
Schumacher's debut singles performance against an opponent who held an Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranking of 106, saw her come from a set down to clinch victory in a hard fought third set tie-breaker.
It earned her the University of South Florida's student athlete of the week award.
That performance saw her promoted from the Bulls' number four to number three and she rose to the challenge to win her next singles match 6-4, 6-4 against Alabama's Sasha Gorchanyuk - a two-time Canadian doubles champion.
Schumacher was then promoted to the Bulls' number two and while her first singles match in that position was unfinished, she won her next 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 against Stetson's Gabriel Anais. She too was a rival of quality, having held a top 40 ranking in Switzerland.
While Schumacher's run of singles success ended against the strong North Florida outfit, she and fellow Bull Margriet Timmermans notched up the team's first doubles win of the season.
Most recently, this time playing as the Bulls' number three, Schumacher posted a 6-4, 7-5 singles win over the more experienced Florida Gulf Coast senior Sofia Perez.
Her next challenge will come when the Bulls take on Liberty University on February 21.
