Chard helps Rowland Hall bag the 2A team tennis title

For the last four tennis matches, Stephanie Chard's mom has packed her a brown paper sack meant to energize and refuel her.

It contained the usual — Gatorade and Powerbars — and the unusual — a note.

"It was a motivational note," her mom, Nedra Chard, explained after her daughter won the first singles state title for Rowland Hall by defeating Waterford's Liz Calder 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6) Saturday at Liberty Park.

"Parents can't coach their kids, so instead of trying to talk to her, I've been writing the notes. They're just points about mental toughness."

Her daughter was the picture of mental toughness as she rallied from behind in all but one of her sets Saturday to claim her first singles title and her second as a tennis player for Rowland Hall-St. Mark's. She won a doubles title as a freshman for the school, which earned a state title Saturday by winning all but one individual title in the 2A tournament.

The most exciting of Chard's matches was the one that earned her the state title, but she didn't let on how much it meant to her until the final point was earned.

"She's one of these children who is calm on the outside," her mom said. "She never loses her cool. . . . She's very emotionally controlled."

Stephanie Chard was down in the first set 5-3 when she rallied back to tie up the set and force the tie-break. She was down 0-3 in the second set when she began to chip away at Calder's lead until the two were again locked in a struggle for each point.

It's the third time the two players have met this season, and Chard has won all three match-ups. Chard said she found her motivation in her friendship with her mother, the frustrations she experienced last year and a promise from her coach.

"Last year I hurt my Achilles tendon so I didn't get to play very much until state," she said in between hugs from well-wishers. "It was frustrating. I just didn't have a lot of practice coming into the tournament."

So she gave it some thought in the off-season — while she swam and played water polo — and then made a decision.

"I just told my mom that I felt like it was something I could accomplish if I put in the time," Chard said.

So she spent several hours each day during the summer playing tennis and even went to an out-of-state tennis camp.

The work paid off as she helped the Winged Lions to the 2A title.