Fremd's Lee now the leader for defending state champs

Erica Lee can attest that tennis is not for anyone.

"Actually, I'm not very good," the Fremd senior said with a laugh.

OK, how about table tennis?

"Even ping-pong I'm not very good at," Lee said. "It's quite surprising. Racket sports don't seem to work pretty well beyond badminton."

But Badminton has turned out to be quite a racket for Lee.

She has helped defending state champion Fremd to two titles in the last three years and finished third in the state in singles last year.

Now Lee takes the leadership reigns from Jenna Langhorst, last year's singles champion who is playing tennis at Iowa State, and tries to continue the hardware haul for Fremd and the Mid-Suburban League.

"People look to her," Fremd coach Bob Hanson said of Lee. "She's more of a vocal leader than Jenna."

Langhorst had a business-like competitiveness that was difficult to match. Lee, who played doubles with Langhorst last year, also has it, but in a different manner.

"Jenna was a great role model and her competitive edge really set a high example," Lee said. "In the same sense, I want it just as bad as she did.

"Hanson would always joke around that Jenna would be the one saying, 'toughen up, toughen up,' and I'm the one to give a girl a hug."

Lee had some good reasons to embrace badminton at an early age. Her dad Andrew coached and played and her great uncle played in Taiwan.

Judy Hseih, who finished fourth in the state in singles as a senior when Lee was a freshman, also played a big role in Lee's development.

So, it was no surprise Lee made an immediate impact when she contributed doubles points to its state title.

"I knew she was something special," Hanson said. "She's a quality girl on and off the court."

Lee has an unweighted 3.74 grade-point-average and carries a heavy load of advanced placement courses. She's going to Indiana to study elementary education and is currently interning with a fourth-grade class.

Lee also plans to continue playing badminton.

"It would be hard to give up," Lee said. "Especially since it's taken a large part of my life."

And Lee hopes this is another big part of her Fremd career as it chases a repeat title.

"Everyone is really working hard and knows there are high expectations set for us," Lee said. "Everyone is really rising to the challenge."

Especially a player who may be racket-challenged outside of badminton.