Fearless Marks fronts M-A

Count Julia Marks as one of those steady influences for the Bears. The four-year varsity player, who was the nominal No. 2 singles player all four years, emerged not only as a jack-of-all trades for the Bears on the court, but a voice that connected with everyone off of it that helped her earn the Daily Journal’s Girls’ Tennis Player of the Year honors.

“I think you’ll find all really good tennis players who play on high school teams … are not on the team for personal achievement, but for the team experience,” said M-A coach Tom Sorenson. “[Marks] has been just a wonderful team leader. When you get leadership within the (team) ranks, you have a following that is much more valuable and in tune with the season, as opposed to it coming from the coaching ranks.”

Given the fact the Bears played all their matches on the road because of construction on and around the tennis facilities, strong leadership was even more important for M-A this season, as they went on to capture a seventh straight Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title. Marks’ status as an elite player among a ton of good players on her own team and around the rest of the league gave her some weight as a team captain.

“I absolutely loved it. … [The team aspect] is something you don’t get in (junior tournament play). It was something I hadn’t really gotten and it was one of the best things about my high school experience,” Marks said. “I started (becoming a team leader) last year. … This year, I had a bigger role; worked with the coaches, worked on uniform orders, planned practices efficiently, it was really fun.”

And she still had enough time to go and prove to be one of the best players in the PAL. If not for teammate Lanie Van Linge, Marks could lay claim to be being the best the league had to offer. And with Van Linge in and out of the lineup — mainly because of competitive reasons — Marks had the chance to go against all the top players in the PAL.

“She played every top player in the league,” Sorenson said. “She also played No. 1 for us in the very prestigious Stanford tournament.”

When the postseason came around, Marks teamed with Van Linge to win the PAL doubles crown and advanced to the semifinals of the Central Coast Section tournament.

“I’ve played a lot singles, in both tournaments and high school. (Getting to play doubles) just to mix it up was nice,” Marks said. “We (Van Linge and I) had kind of talked about playing together earlier (in the season), how it would be a fun time to end our high school careers.”

Unlike a lot of elite players, Marks did not commit herself to tennis until the start of high school.

“I played some other sports in middle school,” Marks said. “I started focusing on tennis in high school and my game jumped a lot. I was concentrating, just putting in more hours, and I grew (physically).”

Sorenson believes because Marks wasn’t a tennis prodigy at an early age, it allowed her to grow into being a strong player during her high school career, which enabled her to connect with other players on the team more easily.

“I think it gives her empathy for the kids who are blue-collar kids on the team. Oftentimes, that’s lacking in players who are accomplished players at such an early age,” Sorenson said.

While she may have empathy for her teammates, she certainly does not have an sympathy for her opponents. With long arms and a tall frame, Marks has the game to dwarf a lot of the competition. And along with that comes a desire to compete.

“She loves it (competition). … She has long arms, she’s very loose. She has lots of leverage and she’s completely unafraid to hit the ball aggressively. She’s not afraid to make mistakes. She never takes her foot off the gas,” Sorenson said. “She really has a major-league arsenal. She hits the ball harder than anyone in the league and is more and more aggressive. There isn’t a single player who played Julia last year who did not feel absolutely threatened by her. … Her chances to win don’t require her opponent to have an off day.”

It’s that kind of talent and attitude that has led Marks to commit to play tennis at Bowdoin College in Maine, a goal Marks set for herself at a young age. It wasn’t until her junior year that it appeared that goal was within her reach.

“I worked really hard for this,” Marks said. “I was really happy when that (opportunity to play in college) came through.”