Lauren Corvo is a 2000 Hawthorne High School Alumni. Her college tennis team was recently inducted into her college’s sports Hall of Fame. The Clarion interviewed this incredibly talented and dedicated individual. 

1.) How long have you been playing tennis? What does playing tennis mean to you?

I have been playing tennis since I was 7 or 8, but really started to take it seriously in middle school when I worked with a private coach and started taking lessons on a regular basis.  I love that tennis is both an individual and a team sport…and while I enjoy playing both singles and doubles, doubles is definitely my favorite!!!  I get a thrill out of the strategy that goes into planning out a point and love trying to anticipate where my opponent will hit the ball so that I can (hopefully) be in position for the winner! Tennis has been a huge part of my life since I was young. My parents played recreational and my dad especially loved doubles.  He used to let me sub in during doubles matches with his “buddies” and that’s where my love for the game all began!   

2.)How did you feel when you found out you were being initiated into your college’s Hall of Fame?

I was initially shocked when I read the email from Roger Williams about my team’s induction and I actually had to re-read it several times for it to sink in!  I had no idea that we still held records from that 2002 season!

3.)The greatest accomplishment of your tennis career?

Winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference during my junior year at Roger Williams (the first women’s tennis championship ever won at the school) was definitely a highlight of my tennis career…and of course being inducted into the hall of fame 15 years later because of that accomplishment just makes it that much more special!

4.)How did Hawthorne High School impact your career?

Hawthorne High played an important role in impacting my tennis career.  When I started on the team freshman year, I was playing 1st doubles…but then moved up to 3rd singles, after there was an injury on the team.  Even though I love playing doubles, that was my first real experience playing competitive singles and I thrived off of the new challenges it brought.  I wanted to step up my game to be a powerful singles player and that pushed me to work harder and harder over the seasons at HHS.  As a freshman, I remember being in complete awe of a junior on our team who played first singles and set the goal to up my tennis game to her level…I wanted to play first singles before I graduated!!!  I had a great coach who I worked with outside of the school team and also an amazing school coach (Danielle Dino Ezmat, class of 1993) my last two years at HHS.  They both pushed me to be a better player and were pivotal in helping me reach my goal of playing 1st singles my junior and senior year.  After graduating college, I had the opportunity to come back and help coach the tennis team at HHS as Danielle’s assistant and immediately fell in love with coaching the sport too. Currently, I just finished coaching my 10th season of tennis at the Academy of St. Elizabeth (a private all-girls school outside of Morristown) where I also teach biology.  I really enjoy coaching and helping my players reach their full potential out on the court.  I had such a great support system growing up from my parents and coaches and I try my best to be that same type of support system for my players.

5.)What was your favorite Hawthorne High School memory?

As far as tennis goes, I will always remember our county tournaments!  Tennis is typically a small team so I loved the team bonding and “family” atmosphere of the team.  It became a tradition for my mom to make muddy buddies for counties (Chex cereal coated in chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar) which we looked forward to eating after our last match of the tournament was over!  

Hawthorne High School is proud to be able to say that Lauren Corvo is an alumni!