Kayden Higbee was looking for a challenge when she started playing tennis as a freshman.
The Mexico senior found a challenge and also found a college scholarship with Missouri Valley College. …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous website, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
Kayden Higbee was looking for a challenge when she started playing tennis as a freshman.
The Mexico senior found a challenge and also found a college scholarship with Missouri Valley College. Higbee signed to play for the Marshall school during a ceremony on March 31 in the Mexico Sports Complex.
Higbee plans to study nursing after playing for the Lady Bulldogs since freshman year. She said she looks forward to practicing with new people, including the men as she said Missouri Valley College practices involve each gender practicing together.
“I was very excited to sign with Missouri Valley because I know they have a wide tennis program,” Higbee said. “They do it together so you get to work with different people.”
Higbee said she did cheerleading but wanted to try something new. She gave tennis a try because she wanted to know the struggle and why other people don’t try the sport.
“It’s not even just the physical aspect,” Higbee said. “It’s the mental aspect. ‘Why am I bad? Because I keep missing this shot multiple times?’ It’s more of a mental game.”
Head coach Kim Costley has helped Higbee, telling her she can “fix it and it’s not the end of the world,” and Higbee is grateful to coach Carey Knipfel, too. Higbee said she has continued to work on her game and believes tennis will challenge her in the future.
Costley said it’s not often that a Mexico girl plays tennis in college. She said one of her previous players, Jyllian Whitworth, signed to play in college for Drury University but for pickleball, and Haydet Herrera-Garcia played tennis in Florida. Katie Gooch and Grace Wortmann have played at the state tournament but didn’t play in college.
This is an opportunity that Higbee can’t miss, Costley said, so she is glad she is going for it. Costley said she not only has grown as a tennis player but as a young lady, maturing to the point that she was an effective leader who was “organizing and pushing” the team.
“Kayden has worked hard to move up in tennis since her freshman year,” Costley said. “This year, she was very focused and showed a lot of leadership on our team. I can’t wait to see how much she grows after getting to college and continuing to work on her craft.”
Higbee said her long shots have improved over the last few years and is eager to how she can be even better in college.
“I have to further grow as in not only just getting better in the sport but meeting new people and growing around that and learning lessons for myself,” Higbee said.
