Sophomore Madison Homan did not allow the limitations of the recent 2019 women's tennis season to limit her own self-expectations. In fact, just the opposite.

Maddi, a former Paulsboro High School player who played as a freshman for the Runners under coach Kelly Hernandez in 2019, was RCSJ's lone representative in this past weekend's Region XIX Tournament held on her home court.  And her experience in matches was limited too as the sophomore had competed in just one regular season match entering the tourney, won by Northampton County College on October 20.

But those circumstances did not deter Maddi from performing well against her Region opponents, nor has it deterred her professional goal of entering the coaching field one day.

"I came into Regions a little blindsided because I had no idea how these other girls have played," said Maddi. "So I was a little nervous at the start. I just decided to put everything into it."

At first singles, Maddi won her quarterfinal match over Bucks County College's Cailin Nally before dropping a semifinal to Northampton's Regan Gunn.

Despite her lack of playing time in 2019, Maddi entered the competition knowing she was capable of performing well. Last season she finished runner-up at No. 5 singles in the Region XIX tournament while emerging as a Region champion as a member of the third doubles team.  

She also played all four seasons while a student at Paulsboro High School, including as a No. 1 singles player her senior year.

Maddi, a health and physical education major, hopes to continue playing tennis at Rowan University and also hopes to enter high school coaching as part of her career path.

"I love tennis, and I know I'll love coaching," Maddi said. "I've been around tennis most of my life and I definitely want to continue forward."