Somehow, Weekley Became the People’s Choice
It wasn’t her plan, rather her magnetic personality
Mike Brohard
The Maori tradition dates back centuries, a greeting between two people at major ceremonies.
It involves the pressing of noses, generally the touching of foreheads. It is called ‘hongi,’ roughly translating to the sharing of breath. This is something Sarah Weekley started doing with teammate Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya, special gesture between the two. One would think it was a greeting the New Zealand native brought with her to the program, something she has done with people in the past.
Not really.
“I didn’t do this back home, no. Vika was honestly the first person I ever did it with,” Weekley said. “It’s a pretty interesting tradition. It’s from way back.”
So, why Zhadzinskaya, of all people, of all the teammates she’s had in her career with Colorado State’s tennis team?
“She’s my height,” Weekley said flatly.
Just kinda kept it tucked away in her mind until the right person came along. In a way, it explains the magic which is Weekley.
By choice, she’d be an introvert, but the reality is she’s become a reluctant extrovert because there is something there which has people drawn to her.
“I’m quite quiet, and a little anxious, but I try not to show it that much. I think sometimes being quiet, people start talking,” Weekley said. “Then I start listening. And ask questions. I’m curious. I get a lot out of people, I guess. I want to know what’s going on, and I do remember most of it. Not everything.
“It’s just all being curious. I get people kind of opening up to me, and I’m there for them. I like that. I like helping people.”
The magic, whatever that may be initially, is generally something different to each individual. Her quiet nature. The easy, inviting smile. The desire to be in the background, often overpowered by her ability to care.
Eventually, the reason people remain drawn to her is simple: She puts other’s feelings and emotions before hers.
“She’s definitely a very special person, in all aspects. She’s an amazing friend,” Zhadzinskaya said. “She’s very observant and senses things. She’ll always pick you up. I don’t even know sometimes how she feels I’m down, but she’ll feel it and pick me up. She’s just a very special friend.
“She has a very big heart, a kind, big heart. Sometimes, there’s so much pressure she puts on herself, but she’s trying to make sure everyone around her is good before thinking of herself. As for the team, she always wants to do what’s best for the team and will put the team before her.”
Her time at Colorado State got off to a late start – not by choice. She was on the roster for 18 months before ever stepping foot on campus. Her first year was the Covid pandemic, so she stayed home and took online classes. The following fall, her father, Leonard, passed away, and she remained home with her family.
It was in the spring when she joined the team for practice, and it was to play for a coach who hadn’t recruited her. To play with teammates she had not met personally. There were group chats, which is where they informed her the new coach’s workouts were intense, which had her a bit worried.
The coach, Mai-Ly Tran, had to learn about a player she hadn’t met, either. Not long after, everybody was drawn to the new kid.
“I didn’t know very much about her when she first came, but she was the glue to our team in that first year who brought our team together. Everybody looked after her,” Tran said. “She was so easy going and had a great personality, she was the final piece to that team that really helped us be successful that season.”
Far from home and still dealing with her recent loss, she came to be what each of them needed, and in turn, they all gave her a little something back. Sarka Richterova’s determination to be an excellent student served as an example. She was fascinated by Radka Buzkova’s healthy lifestyle. Lucia Natal pushed her to excel at every activity, regardless. Matea Mihaljevic and Somer Dalla-Bona were her sounding boards about anything. Tracy Guo became her best friend that season, “my little buddy.”
Every player offered something to the newcomer, and since then, it’s exactly what Weekley has provided to each new arrival.
“I think she’s something else. She is super down to earth,” Logan Voeks said. “She sort of tells it how it is and is amazingly observant about those around her. She constantly picks out little details about her teammates, makes sure everyone is OK.
“It's definitely different for each person, but she has such a unique ability to sense the other person’s feelings and what they might need in the moment. I’ve learned in the past year and a half what makes her feel more comfortable in the moment. It’s fun finding that balance just being in each other’s presence and what balances us out. I approach it with humor with Sarah, but some of the new girls it’s more of a subtle, kind way to see what they need. She adapts very well to every person.”
It’s a little interesting. It really is. I do want to make them as comfortable as possible. Like the new freshman coming in, I want her to know she can come and talk to me about anything. But at the same time, yeah, I don’t want people around all that much.Sarah Weekley
The trick for her as a Ram has been adapting to collegiate tennis and where she felt her game fit. When recruited, she was the second-ranked 18U player in her country, which would suggest a host of confidence.
No one denies her athletic abilities, the power of her serves or groundstrokes. The issue has always been when Weekley questions herself. She has spent the majority of her career in the top three spots of the lineup, but even convincing wins of the past – a straight-sets win over Nebraska at the No. 1 position as a sophomore – were not convincing to her.
A notion she is trying to put in the past. A notion Tran is counting on sticking.
“She’s capable of it. We’ve believed in her since day one,” Tran said. “When I saw her the first time she practiced and throughout our matches, I’ve believed she can play at the top of our lineup. Slowly she has realized she’s capable of it, too. It’s great to hear her say she can play at the top. She’s so humble and modest, she doesn’t want to admit it, but she’s capable of it.”
It isn’t because she’s watched film of her matches and picked them apart. No way she’s doing that. The team films every match, and she’s impressively ignored every single one of hers. She hates watching herself. Knowing this, Tran doesn’t make her do it, as it would be counterproductive.
Weekley doesn’t like to watch her mannerisms very much. As she plays, she moves gracefully on the court, appearing at times as if it is effortless. She is not animated in the slightest. There are no fist pumps, definitely no shouting after a big point. There is no sound at all.
Even when the team cheers. They bribed her one year with a treat if she could just yell out a trio of ‘Go Rams’ over the course of an entire dual. She thinks she blurted out one.
Tran won’t say what it’s like for her to watch Weekley play. To others, it’s popcorn-worthy cinema. For the precision of play, sometimes for the comedy.
“Her physical game itself, she’s a great ball striker. Her serve is massive. Her forehand is massive,’ Voeks said. “She has so many skills that are under the radar; you don’t see them until you start to pay attention. She creates a façade on the court of calmness. I can read the tell-tell signs of different things. She’s calm, she plays her point and moves on to the next point. She may have a couple in a row she doesn’t love, but she resets. Sometimes that comes off as unphased, but she’s just really good at resetting and playing the point at hand.
“It’s humorous. Playing doubles with her, you learn some of the banter and comments that come with the faces. It could be a look of frustration in the moment, but she has a way of humoring herself. Her face gives away what she’s feeling. Over time, I think she’s become significantly easier on herself, more positive and forgiving of herself.”
Weekley has overcome a lot of things. For starters, she hated doubles. Two years ago, she played with Ky Ecton, a pairing which altered Weekley’s view of that part of the game. She’s actually become quite good in the spot, going 7-2 with Zara Lennon last spring.
What she’s learned to do best, be it doubles or singles, is to stop being so hypercritical of every point, every match. That has led Weekley to the belief she can be better than ever.
There’s no time like the present, especially when the present happens to be your final semester, a stretch which begins Friday as the Rams host Montana at the Fort Collins Country Club at 3:30 p.m.
“I think I’ve gotten way more confident, even going back to last semester and over break, hitting with my coach. I feel more confident on the court,” she said. “I used to walk with my shoulders down, head down, and I’m better at that. In doubles, I’m more confident at the net.
“If I’m not going to be positive on the court, I shouldn’t be negative. That’s my goal. It’s not to be negative, and maybe a little more positive. Maybe more Go Rams! I think now with this being my last semester, I’m going to come out and know I can be confident. If I just trust myself, then we’ll see what happens.”
Which is the way Voeks and Zhadzinskaya – her roommates – approach each day with Weekley. They don’t know what’s coming, but the feeling is it will be something spectacular. Quite often, it’s humorous. Weekley felt growing up her father was the funniest person on earth, a gift she gets from him.
In her eyes, it was natural. To her roommates, what makes it priceless is no one sees it coming, because Weekley quite often is unintentionally hilarious. Even better, every day she’s going to show them they mean the world to her.
“She notices things no one else will ever notice and remember things other people will not remember,” Zhadzinskaya said. “It’s just … Wow.”
Weekley is as confused as anybody about how her time at Colorado State turned out. She never pictured herself as a teammate who was the glue for the team, the possessor of a magnetic personality, but here we are.
Given her choice, she’d rather close the door, sit and her room and study. Or play with Voeks’ cat.
“It’s a little interesting. It really is,” Weekley said. “I do want to make them as comfortable as possible. Like the new freshman coming in, I want her to know she can come and talk to me about anything. But at the same time, yeah, I don’t want people around all that much.”
Except when they are. Because they always are. Because of her personality. In those moments, Weekley is going to be exactly the friend, the teammate, that particular person needs in the given moment.
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