POSTER CHILD FOR WOMEN’S TENNIS
5/11/2020 4:40:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Hinojosa Excited About 2nd Chance for Senior Season
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Joey Scrivano has coached an NCAA champion and nine other players who have earned a total of 29 All-America honors in his 18 years at Baylor.
But, of all the players he's coached, Scrivano calls Jessica Hinojosa "the poster child for Baylor women's tennis."
"She has incredible composure, she's reliable, extremely coachable and just a high-character type kid. She has been an absolute pleasure to coach," Scrivano said of the senior from Guadalajara, Mexico. "Anytime you can get a player with those qualities to come back for another year, you're jumping up and down as a coach."
This was supposed to be Hinojosa's last year before the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovering from a calf muscle injury when the remainder of the season was canceled, she was given a reprieve and a second chance when the NCAA granted spring sports' student-athletes an added year of eligibility.
"When everything went down, it was pretty scary, because you didn't know what was going to happen," said Hinojosa, who has a career singles record of 66-38, including 46-28 in dual matches. "It was my last season, so of course that was very sad, but I had the support from the team and the coaches. I knew they were going to figure it out."
One of the first to announce she was coming "Back to Baylor," Hinojosa put out a video on Twitter on April 1 (no April Fool's joke), saying she wanted to "thank my coaches for giving me this opportunity, and I can't wait to be back."
Even when the NCAA granted the extra year, Hinojosa said everything depended on keeping her scholarship for the 2020-21 season.
"After talking to Joey and the staff and hearing they were offering me a scholarship to keep playing, that made it a super-easy decision to come back and play another year with this team that was looking so good, and to have an opportunity to fight for a Big 12 and national championship. I wanted that back, so that made it an easy decision."
The early shutdown was particularly tough on Hinojosa, who was up a set when she had to withdraw from her singles match on Feb. 23 against Northwestern. She did not play in any of the 22nd-ranked Bears' last four matches, including conference wins over Iowa State and West Virginia.
"I wasn't playing when we found out everything was ending," she said, "so that was just another hard thing to face."
After a difficult 9-21 season the year before, when Hinojosa had to play at the top of the lineup, she had settled into more of a comfortable role in the Nos. 4 and 5 spots in the lineup before her injury.
"This year, she really could have played any position on a great team," Scrivano said. "Because she puts in the work and she doesn't make excuses, she always finds a way to do what's in front of her, she's improved tremendously. Players struggle with, this is a long-term development project . . . There are going to be times when your game is going to plateau, and you've got to just keep working through that, you can't get discouraged. When her game plateaus, she just keeps getting after it and doesn't get discouraged."
Even with shelter-in-place orders at her home back in Guadalajara, Hinojosa has continued to work out at home every day to stay in shape. But, since she hasn't played in almost three months, "Now, I'm looking to find an open court, because all the clubs are closed. I'm trying to find a court and someone to practice with. It's been a long time, and more time since I've been injured, so I'm just really looking forward to getting back on the court."
More of the "lead by example" type, and certainly quiet by nature, Hinojosa had to let her voice be heard more often on a team that had just one other senior in Angelina Shakhraichuk.
"There are some situations where I've had to speak up and just be louder than I would normally be," she said. "But, I think with these girls and this team, it's easy to be a leader, because everyone is working toward the same goal and everyone works really hard. So, I don't have any issues being a leader."
Where she shines the most, Scrivano said, is that she simply never complains and shows up every day with a smile on her face.
"She is just incredibly consistent," he said. "I can count on one hand how many practices she's missed in four years. That's just amazing dedication and dependability. I'm excited for the younger players, for the freshmen coming in, to see how someone like Jess operates. She's going to be able to show them, this is the way you do things."
Finishing her undergrad studies in nutrition science this month, Hinojosa plans to work on a master's in sports pedagogy next year.
"With this extra year, it will help me to keep competing and keep practicing at such a high level," said Hinojosa, who represented Mexico at the World University Games three years ago in Chinese Taipei. "That will help me if I want to continue playing pro tennis in the future."
Baylor Bear Insider
Joey Scrivano has coached an NCAA champion and nine other players who have earned a total of 29 All-America honors in his 18 years at Baylor.
But, of all the players he's coached, Scrivano calls Jessica Hinojosa "the poster child for Baylor women's tennis."
"She has incredible composure, she's reliable, extremely coachable and just a high-character type kid. She has been an absolute pleasure to coach," Scrivano said of the senior from Guadalajara, Mexico. "Anytime you can get a player with those qualities to come back for another year, you're jumping up and down as a coach."
This was supposed to be Hinojosa's last year before the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovering from a calf muscle injury when the remainder of the season was canceled, she was given a reprieve and a second chance when the NCAA granted spring sports' student-athletes an added year of eligibility.
"When everything went down, it was pretty scary, because you didn't know what was going to happen," said Hinojosa, who has a career singles record of 66-38, including 46-28 in dual matches. "It was my last season, so of course that was very sad, but I had the support from the team and the coaches. I knew they were going to figure it out."
One of the first to announce she was coming "Back to Baylor," Hinojosa put out a video on Twitter on April 1 (no April Fool's joke), saying she wanted to "thank my coaches for giving me this opportunity, and I can't wait to be back."
Even when the NCAA granted the extra year, Hinojosa said everything depended on keeping her scholarship for the 2020-21 season.
"After talking to Joey and the staff and hearing they were offering me a scholarship to keep playing, that made it a super-easy decision to come back and play another year with this team that was looking so good, and to have an opportunity to fight for a Big 12 and national championship. I wanted that back, so that made it an easy decision."
The early shutdown was particularly tough on Hinojosa, who was up a set when she had to withdraw from her singles match on Feb. 23 against Northwestern. She did not play in any of the 22nd-ranked Bears' last four matches, including conference wins over Iowa State and West Virginia.
"I wasn't playing when we found out everything was ending," she said, "so that was just another hard thing to face."
After a difficult 9-21 season the year before, when Hinojosa had to play at the top of the lineup, she had settled into more of a comfortable role in the Nos. 4 and 5 spots in the lineup before her injury.
"This year, she really could have played any position on a great team," Scrivano said. "Because she puts in the work and she doesn't make excuses, she always finds a way to do what's in front of her, she's improved tremendously. Players struggle with, this is a long-term development project . . . There are going to be times when your game is going to plateau, and you've got to just keep working through that, you can't get discouraged. When her game plateaus, she just keeps getting after it and doesn't get discouraged."
Even with shelter-in-place orders at her home back in Guadalajara, Hinojosa has continued to work out at home every day to stay in shape. But, since she hasn't played in almost three months, "Now, I'm looking to find an open court, because all the clubs are closed. I'm trying to find a court and someone to practice with. It's been a long time, and more time since I've been injured, so I'm just really looking forward to getting back on the court."
More of the "lead by example" type, and certainly quiet by nature, Hinojosa had to let her voice be heard more often on a team that had just one other senior in Angelina Shakhraichuk.
"There are some situations where I've had to speak up and just be louder than I would normally be," she said. "But, I think with these girls and this team, it's easy to be a leader, because everyone is working toward the same goal and everyone works really hard. So, I don't have any issues being a leader."
Where she shines the most, Scrivano said, is that she simply never complains and shows up every day with a smile on her face.
"She is just incredibly consistent," he said. "I can count on one hand how many practices she's missed in four years. That's just amazing dedication and dependability. I'm excited for the younger players, for the freshmen coming in, to see how someone like Jess operates. She's going to be able to show them, this is the way you do things."
Finishing her undergrad studies in nutrition science this month, Hinojosa plans to work on a master's in sports pedagogy next year.
"With this extra year, it will help me to keep competing and keep practicing at such a high level," said Hinojosa, who represented Mexico at the World University Games three years ago in Chinese Taipei. "That will help me if I want to continue playing pro tennis in the future."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
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