The California dream lasted just one year for Colorado Springs tennis phenom Nicole Leimbach.
The undisputed queen of Colorado prep tennis, who won 60 consecutive matches and four No. 1 singles state titles at Pine Creek High School without dropping a set, will turn herself into a Horned Frog.
Leimbach, 19, returned to Colorado this week with her father days after she and her University of Southern California teammates were bounced from the NCAA women’s team and individual championships in Athens, Ga.
Leimbach played No. 1 singles for the Women of Troy and was named Pac-10 player of the year, ranked as high as No. 9 and won the prestigious Pac-10 singles event at the 105th annual Ojai Tennis Tournament in April.
She is the first recruit to leave USC since coach Richard Gallien took over in 1996.
“I didn’t have the best experience at USC,” Leimbach said. “It was just not what I expected, so I needed to make a change.”
Although still considering a move to the professional ranks, which have beckoned since adolescence, Leimbach said she plans to attend Texas Christian this fall and play for coach Dave Borelli, who left USC in 1988 after seven national championships in 14 seasons as coach.
Borelli’s experience and background training players to become professionals are what Leimbach said she needs to reach the next level – something she didn’t feel was happening at USC, where she said she “learned more about life then tennis.”
“I didn’t practice like I had been practicing before,” Leimbach said of her workouts at USC.
During her senior season in high school, Leimbach worked with former tour pro John Fox. Although Leimbach calls it “miscommunication,” she said she did not get along with the coaches at USC on issues of time spent hitting and the caliber and frequency of practice partners.
Gallien described Leimbach’s freshman season as meteoric, despite her getting stunned at the NCAA singles tournament by No. 66 Helga Vieira, a second alternate from Texas A&M.
Gallien said he felt badly that USC wasn’t the experience Leimbach was looking for.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing to lose a good player,” Gallien said. “We want her to be happy, and if that’s better for her, then there’s not much we can say.”
But USC’s loss is TCU’s gain.
“We’re very fortunate to get her,” Borelli said. “I think she’s a real great, great player, and great players require more. That’s what makes them great.”
Borelli, 54, said collegiate tennis has changed dramatically since the days when he had four players ranked in the top 34 in the world on his 1979 USC team. Those players, Borelli said, have been bypassing college for the pro tour for so many years, college systems aren’t designed to cater to their needs.
Borelli is one of the few NCAA coaches who enters his team in pro tournaments to elevate his team’s play.
