LYNNFIELD — For some, it’s a dream to play a Div. 1 sport, but for Lynnfield resident and Central Catholic’s Kayleigh Furbush, that dream is about to become a reality. Furbush has committed to study and play tennis at Merrimack College in North Andover.
Despite Furbush only suiting up for the Raiders for two years before switching her focus to tournament play, she enjoyed success, which included being the No. 1 player as a freshman.
“I played my freshman and sophomore years and got first team all-conference and one of the MVC (Merrimack Valley Conference) All-Stars each year,” Furbush said. “In my junior and senior years, I decided to switch to playing high-level tournament play instead, but I did have a great time playing my freshman and sophomore years.”
Switching to a tournament schedule, Furbush practiced every day for nearly three hours in addition to lifting. Furbush also traveled the country to practice and compete.
“It was really fun. It was a busy schedule, but I was able to maintain it,” she said, “having to travel a lot for tournaments, while maintaining good grades and participating in clubs. Having to balance all that was challenging. I was able to go to Naples at the Gomez Tennis Academy and play there for five weeks. I got to go to Las Vegas to play at the RS7 Academy over the summer to play there. This was all to practice for tournament play.”
Now, another dream comes true.
“I always wanted to play Division 1 and it was definitely a dream-come-true to get that chance,” Furbush said. “Thankfully, I’ve had great coaches along the way and the main support system that set me up was Northeast Tennis.”
With lots of calls from coaches, at times, Furbush said it was challenging to make a decision on her next home.
“It was challenging, having to talk to different coaches and trying to figure out which school would be best for me — academically and athletically — and whether I wanted to stay close to home or go away,” she said. “Ultimatley, I decided on Merrimack because of its great nutrition and human performance program. I always knew that I wanted to do something in the nutrition field and they have a great team and coach in Adam Courtemanche. I also got into the honors college, which was a factor.”
At the next level, Furbush knows she needs to keep improving, but one strength of hers is the fact she’s a lefty, which often helps her early in matches.
“Having a lefty serve is definitely an advantage for me. I can serve out wide to their backhand and a lot of times, that’s just different because most people are righties,” Furbush said. “It has a different type of spin on the ball and it can confuse people and then get in their head, and it gives me an advantage over them from the start.”
Furbush will continue playing in high-level tournaments and is looking forward to training at Montoya Tennis Academy this summer.
