Introducing our WXXV Student Athlete of the Week, St. Patrick’s Mary Evelyn Jakubik!
High school tennis on the Mississippi Gulf Coast has come to a close, but not before one local school made history. A huge piece of that State Championship puzzle not only helped lead her team to success, but she aced her individual challenge the following day. Introducing our WXXV Student Athlete of the Week, St. Patrick’s Mary Evelyn Jakubik!
“Around age twelve during the covid years I started to get back into it and I made a lot of friends and I just kind of fell in love with the sport and did tournaments and played almost every single day,” said Mary Evelyn Jakubik.
The St. Patrick junior’s hard work and persistency is evident on the court and she’s been recognized in all different level. Just last September, Jakubik was selected to participate in the Ozaki Cup which only accepts the top three Mississippi players in each age division.
“It was crazy because I really didn’t think I was going to get in, but then one day at practice my mom was like, ‘You made the team! You’re on it!’ I was just so happy, and just to be there and meet all these amazing players from like Louisiana, Alabama and every southern state. It was just a crazy experience,” said Jakubik.
This is just one of the incredible experiences Jakubik has earned with a racquet in hand. She has won countless tournaments near and far traveling with the sport, and as a 9th grader she won a mixed doubles State championship at St. Patrick with her partner, Breton Descher. Now as a junior, Jakubik helped lead the entire Fighting Irish team to their first ever State Championship title!
“I was honestly so happy!” Jakubik said with a smile. “I was crying and my whole team was jumping around. We really were so nervous going into this. We didn’t think we had a chance, but our team really put in the effort and I’m just so proud of everyone and I think we’ve all gotten a lot closer. This was the first time in school history and it’s amazing.”
As if breaking school history wasn’t enough, Jakubik still had unfinished business to take care of the next day, competing for the individual title in the girls’ singles division. During the first set she was down 5-2, but she refused to give up and began strategizing. That mentality drove her to winning that very same set 7-5 and winning the second 6 to 4.
“I was just like, ‘You can do this! Be confident and look back at everything you’ve done. You’ve put in the effort these past few months from that really bad loss in the District finals.’ I just really wanted this so bad and I just played the best I could,” said Jakubik
Jakubik is now a three time State Champion in three different divisions after three complete seasons, but she’s not content just yet. Her new goal isn’t just for her, but also for her freshman sister, Campbell.
“I have won a mixed doubles title and a singles title and my goal is to get all three and win a girls doubles title preferably with my sister next year, but we’ll see how it goes,” said Jakubik. “Last year she didn’t even play junior varsity and now this year she’s the first alternate for varsity, and I think me being a good player has really motivated her to be a better player, so we’re going to start doing tournaments together and we’ve even played doubles in a tournament together and we got second!”
It is so refreshing watching Mary Evelyn set high goals for herself, reach them, and want to bring her sister along with her. You’ll definitely want to watch out for the Jakubik sisters next year!
