Megan Govi is quick to give credit to her team’s effort in 2012–13, but the sophomore earned plenty of accolades on her own this season. Govi broke multiple school records as a member of the women’s tennis squad, including those for single-season wins and conference wins. She also won Big Sky Honorable Mention accolades for her performance throughout the season. Govi is an all-around athlete whose passion for fitness continues to drive her success on the court.
“She is focused, committed—she sets goals,” head coach Jay Sterling said. “She knows what she wants to achieve and she works really hard to make it happen.”
As a child, Govi’s athletic interests were geared mainly toward swimming and basketball, but after following her brother’s lead onto the tennis court at age 12, she was hooked. Govi’s family remains her principal source of motivation, both on and off the court.
“My brother played [tennis] and I wanted to be just like him,” she said. “So I picked it up and found out that I was pretty good at it.”
Govi has proven that she has the talent to compete at the collegiate level, something that is already paying off for the team—her breakthrough second season for Portland State is one of the main reasons the women’s squad was able to score 12 wins in their 24 matches, the first time in the history of the program that the Vikings did not finish below .500. Govi’s main goal is to build on that success going forward.
“It’s nice that I had a good record, but it would feel a lot better if my team had also had that record,” she said. “It would be great if our team could have that success.”
Govi is currently working toward a degree in communication. She hopes to go into broadcasting or publishing after graduation, and is looking to do an internship at a radio station this summer. But she’ll be on the court as well, working with Sterling and the rest of the coaching staff to diversify her attack, play more aggressively and continue improving her net game. Sterling isn’t concerned about Govi’s ability to handle the transition.
“She is going to continue to get better,” he said. “We have only started to scratch the surface [of] her potential.”