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Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week: Yorkville's Taylor Fedanzo-Dudley · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Record newspaper's Athlete of the Week, Yorkville's Taylor Fedonzo Dudley. Written
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  by Skylar Cassellus This article is being read by an automated voice
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  brought to you by Everlett. Name Taylor Fidanzo Dudley School, Yorkville Sport,
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  Girls Tennis Year Senior. Why She Was Selected. Fidanzo Dudley took first
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  place at number two singles in Saturday's West Aurora Quad Meet, defeating
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  opponents from Wabonsee Valley, West Aurora and Glenbard South. She also went
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  4-1 at number 2 singles in Southwest Prairie Conference matches last week,
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  earning wins over Plainfield Central's Isabella Kazake, 6262, Minuka's Madeline Peters,
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  6426101, Romoville's Ally Rogers, 6161, and Oswego's Lauren Headley, 6162.
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  Fidanzo Dudley is 15-1 overall this season, including a 6-1 record in
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  SPC play. Taylor is a player that has put in many hours
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  of hard work in becoming a better athlete, Yorkville coach Laura Olson
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  said. Her maturity on the court and her self-determination has carried her
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  through a season of success. She has become a leader and role
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  model for our team. Fidanzo De Dudley was selected as the Athlete
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  of the Week in an online vote. Other nominees were Plano Football's
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  Braylon Schmidt, Oswego Flag Football's Leia Jackson, and Oswego East Soccer's Jacob
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  McPhee. Here is Fidanzo Dudley's QA with sports reporter Skylar Casellas. How
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  did you first get into tennis? Fidonzo Dudley. Well, I used to
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  play volleyball, so I played that pretty much my whole life. And
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  then my freshman year I had a pretty tough season, and I
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  just decided that it wasn't my thing, so I stopped. And I've
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  always played sports. I played basketball and soccer, so I thought I'd
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  just focus on one of'em. But my sister played tennis all four
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  years of high school, so my mom encouraged me to go to
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  the little summer camp they had. And at first I really didn't
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  want to go. I played a few times with my family, and
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  I wasn't too good, but she made me go, and then I
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  actually really liked it. So since my sophomore years I always loved
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  it. I stopped all the other sports and I just focused on
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  that. Were you expecting to have this much success in your
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  first season on Varsity? Fidanzo Dudley, no not at all. I didn't
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  really know that to expect, but I did know that my last
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  two years I have really put in a lot of work. I
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  did club for I think a year and a half straight, so
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  I kind of expected to do somewhat well, but I did not
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  think it would go this well, You recently took your first singles
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  loss of the season at Plainfield East. What did you learn from
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  that loss? Fidanzo Dudley, I learned that my mental game, is the
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  most important aspect of my playing and no matter how I'm playing,
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  I just know that if I stay positive that it can get
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  me far, because that was my biggest mistake in What
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  game. She got under my skin and uh I just stopped playing
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  well, so I know that I need to keep that up. What
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  would you say are the strongest aspects of your game? Fidanzo Dudley.
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  I honestly do think it's my mental game because it kind of
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  helps me to stay passionate. Once I'm in a good mental spot,
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  I know that when I mess up, that I can do better,
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  and that I just need to take a second and focus. What
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  would you consider to be the defining moment of your sports career
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  so far? Fidanzo Dudley. My defining moment was probably last season when
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  I got put on JV because I was very frustrated with everything
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  going on. But in that moment I decided that I just need
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  to focus on tennis and really do what I can to make
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  myself better. I didn't really stop doing club and then partially through
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  the summer I kind of lost motivation. I kinda was debating whether
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  I wanted to do tennis still, but I took a few weeks
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  off, and then I got back into it, and I found my
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  love again for the sport. Who is the toughest opponent you remember
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  facing off with? Fidanzo Dudley, it was probably this Saturday against Wabonzi
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  Valley. I could tell she'd been playing a long time. She was
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  very good and she was very nice. She was a very good
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  player. With you now being a senior, how are you taking in
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  your last year of high school? Fedonzo Dudley, I'm just trying to
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  focus on staying involved, so I'm trying to take parts in all
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  the clubs that I'm in and build relationships with all my friends,
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  keep my relationships with my family, and just trying to stay positive
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  throughout the year. Do you plan to continue playing tennis after high
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  school? Fidanzo Dudley, I'm not 100 sure yet, but I do know
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  that I need to focus on schools because sometimes I do struggle
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  to balance everything out. I'm planning on going to Mizzou and they
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  have a D1 program, so I'm not sure if that would be
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  the best for me while trying to continue with school, so I'm
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  not 100 sure yet. If you could have entrance music before every
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  match, what song would you choose? Fidonzo Dudley, probably the song Hustlin
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  by Rick Ross, because it just gives me some sort of motivation.
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  What's your go-to pregame meal? Bedanzo Dudley. This is a bit weird,
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  but I always have cottage cheese and then a peach, and then
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  I always bring fruit snacks onto the court with me so I
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  can keep my energy up.