Marisa Rostash Named Girls Tennis Player of the Year Again

Marisa Rostash takes a new path.

For the past ten years, her life has revolved around tennis.

Now she’s headed to a new state for college. The recent Monroe High graduate will study nursing at the University of Alabama.

“It’s definitely a strange feeling,” she said of walking away from tennis. “I’m looking forward to other things in my life.”

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Rostash left a beautiful legacy in the sport.

She was named Monroe County Region Girls Tennis Player of the Year by The Monroe News sports desk, joining former St. Mary Catholic Central player Melissa DeNardo (1998-2001) who has won the award four times.

And Rastash did it in a unique way, playing her first two years at SMCC before moving to Monroe for her final two seasons.

Rostash was trailing Ann Arbor Skyline’s Catherine Wilcox in a Division 1 regional semifinal when she realized the end of her tennis career was near.

“It was a surreal moment,” she said. “I remember serving and it hit me that this was probably my last game serve. It was emotional.”

Rostash finished 10-4 this season, giving her a 50-12 record during her high school career. She was 27-4 at SMCC and 23-8 at Monroe.

When she moved from SMCC to Monroe, she also moved from Division 4 to Division 1. That raised the level of players she played against.

“It was definitely different,” she said. “There was a lot more competition, but it was a really good challenge. It helped me.”

It didn’t help her during the state tournament.

The loss to Wilcox, who won the regional final and reached the state semifinals, left Rostash just one match short of qualifying for the state finals.

“We had some really good points,” Rostash said of Wilcox. “She’s a freshman, but she’s traveled all over the U.S. to play.”

Rostash has no regrets about switching high schools halfway through her career.

“I feel like I really click with the girls (at Monroe),” she said. “Everyone has been super welcoming and Coach (Stephen) Reau has been awesome.”

Reau is convinced that the move has benefited Rostash and his team.

“After she came to Monroe, she made lifelong friends,” he said. “The younger girls really looked up to her. They got great insights from the amount of work she put in. She always went the extra mile.”

Rostash said the biggest development in her game occurred above the shoulders.

“I feel like I’ve gotten stronger mentally from my freshman year to my senior year,” she said. “I’ve been able to think through games better. The hardest part is definitely the mental game.”

Reau agreed.

“She developed well,” the coach said. “You could see she had many years of experience. She kept her head cool. She didn’t let one bad shot determine the outcome of her matches. She persevered like good, experienced players do.”

A perfect example of this was this year’s opening round of the Division 1 regional competition at Ann Arbor Pioneer.

Rostash was defeated 6-0 in the first set by Sophia LaPointe of Bedford, but managed to recover from that disappointing result and win the next two sets 6-1, 6-1.

“Yes, I got angry,” Rostash said of losing a set to a player she had beaten several times in the past. “I think you have to be hard on yourself, otherwise you will never improve.”

Rostash says she chose Alabama because she had family members who went there in the past and she chose nursing because, “I’ve always had an interest in helping people.”

Kelli and Jim Rostash’s daughter isn’t quitting tennis altogether.

“I’ll probably join a club team,” she said.

She is happy with her last season of high school, as a tennis player.

“I think it went really well, but it was a bittersweet ending,” she said.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Girls Tennis Player of the Year: Rostash Becomes Four-Time Winner