PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Alice Korzekwa, a fourth-grader at Zippel Elementary School in Presque Isle, has seen practice pay off when it comes to her chosen sport of tennis.
Korzekwa, who has been playing tennis since she was 3 years old, gets up early so she can practice twice a week before school, and sometimes on weekends, at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Gentile Hall. She spends most of her free time after school playing more tennis.
This past November, she traveled to Wayland, Mass., to participate in a United States Tennis Association Youth Progression Tournament. Though her competition got the best of her and she fell to other players in her three matches, she gained a lot of experience from her participation.
Four months later, on March 8, she returned to Wayland for another competition, this time finishing only inches away from a first-place showing. She competed at the same level, tying for first with two other girls. When it came down to games lost and won, Korzekdwa placed second — and was one game away from winning the tournament.
The tennis enthusiast has a few more tournaments scheduled in the near future, all USTA matches in her age-10-and-under division.
She is the daughter of Luke Korzekwa and Karlyn Zagranis.
