The University of Mississippi Athletics
A Never-Say-Die Attitude
4/16/2009 | Women's Tennis
By Kim Ling,
Associate Media Relations Director
Success is not always measured by wins and losses. For Ole Miss senior Mimi Renaudin, the joy of competing and giving 100 percent every time out is a win in itself. You see, the Mandeville, La., native has endured a lot of ups and downs during her six years with the Rebel program, most notably, multiple surgeries to her wrist.
She has enjoyed many memorable moments during her career, but one in particular provides insight into her never-say-die attitude with which everyone associated with the program is familiar.
“The first match back after my second-to-last surgery was a big deal,” she said. “Everyone had written me off saying I was done. I probably came out and played the best match I’ve played in my college career. It was like, I did it.’ The weight of the world was off my shoulders. To come back and make it through an entire practice is huge in itself, but to play a match and play well and win was great.”
Renaudin received a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA last year and decided to come back for one last season. She’s glad she did. The Rebels are back in the Top 25 and are expected to receive their first NCAA Championships bid since 2005, Renaudin’s redshirt freshman year.
“The day-to-day stuff seems long, but I don’t feel like I’ve been here six years,” Renaudin said. “Up until this year my first year was the best. This year has met every expectation I’ve had since that first year and more. Obviously the coaches (Mark Beyers and Jason Ontog) have done an incredible job of turning the program around. Having a new crop of freshmen with a lot of talent definitely has helped us. Next year it’s going to be the same team except me. If we are doing this right now, when those freshmen get some more experience the sky’s the limit. For the next few years they are going to be very good.”
The freshmen have played a huge role in the success of the season so far and contributed to the team beating four top 20 teams in the SEC. One of those wins came against then No. 14 Florida. It marked just the third win ever against the perennial national power in women’s tennis.
“That was probably the greatest day of my life,” Renaudin remarked. “It’s always
It seems like forever ago that Renaudin stepped on the courts at Ole Miss as a freshman, and now she is helping this year’s freshmen adjust to life in college tennis.
“Abby is 18, and I am 24, so there is a six-year age difference,” Renaudin said. “It’s definitely a different dynamic than I am used to, but I’ve just tried to set a positive example everyday in practice. I’ve been a listening ear, when they have a lot of questions. They’ve come to me with different stuff, and I’ve tried to do the best I could to help. I’ve been here long enough that I might know most of the answers, maybe not all of them. I hope to keep in contact with them after I leave, because this has been the best group of girls I’ve been with. It’s been fun.”
An excellent student-athlete, Renaudin has been named to one of the University’s three honors rolls every semester of her career and is a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. She has helped the Rebels earn the prestigious ITA All-Academic Team Award every year she’s been here.
“You have to set your priorities,” Renaudin said. “Some people’s priorities are different, which is fine. It’s what you want out of college. I knew coming here that I had to get an education, because tennis was here, but maybe not forever. I’ve spent a lot of late nights studying. Time management is a big thing. If a freshman can come in and learn time management immediately, their entire college career will be set. You have to know what you have to do and how much time you have to get it done. Then you just have to do it.”
The exercise science major has a bright future ahead of her, as she was recently accepted to a top-notch physical therapy school in
“I’ll be going to physical therapy school in August at
For now, she’s happy her team will be playing more tennis beyond next week’s SEC Championship.
