By JOE VOZZELLI JR.

jvozzelli@news-gazette.com

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Madeleine Gandawidjaja's path to playing on the Illinois women's tennis team was an unconventional one. 

That made April 19, 2019, a special occasion for the California native.

Gandawidjaja, after all, had waited about four years from the end of her sophomore year at San Marino (Calif.) High School to her junior year at Illinois to play in this kind of competitive setting. A right shoulder injury ended Gandawidjaja's prep tennis career early, and while the Californian, who learned the sport from her father at an early age, played club tennis at Illinois for two years, she didn't decide to walk-on with the Illini until before the 2018-19 season.

The home match against Northern Iowa — a 4-0 victory by Illinois — turned out to be the only appearance Gandawidjaja made in an Illini uniform.

Still, the soon-to-be Illinois graduate, who studied mechanical engineering and has a job lined up at PepsiCo in Champaign this summer as a supply chain associate, is thankful to have received a new lease on tennis, even if it was cut shorter than expected after Illinois saw its season end prematurely in mid-March with the cancelation of all spring sports because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Gandawidjaja was first intrigued by the opportunity to walk on at Illinois after watching a women's tennis match as a fan at Atkins Tennis Center. 

"I loved the energy they brought," Gandawidjaja said. 

The sense of camaraderie she witnessed pushed Gandawidjaja to reach out to Illini coach Evan Clark via e-mail. The two chatted over the phone, during which Clark asked Gandawidjaja what her goals were, and it became obvious to Clark that Gandawidjaja was a good fit. 

"It was a unique situation," said Clark, who admitted walk-ons are rare in women's college tennis. "We heard great things about her from other people. She was looking for a little bit more out of tennis. We decided to give it a try. It couldn't have worked out any better.

"It was a big challenge for her. She certainly had her days where she probably wondered if it was right move to make. One of the biggest things to me is she improved in such a tremendous amount in just her short time. She was probably a little nervous and a little out of her comfort zone (at the start), but she got into her routine. It was fun to see her progress."

Clark was impressed enough that when one of Illinois' eight scholarships opened in December of Gandawidjaja's junior year, he retroactively put her on scholarship for the ongoing fall semester. Gandawidjaja remained as a scholarship athlete for the spring semester of her junior season, as well.

The hard work Gandawidjaja put in on the practice court culminated in that 2019 home match against the Panthers. Gandawidjaja led 6-3, 3-2 in a No. 6 singles match against Northern Iowa's Olivia Fain that day when play was stopped.

Walking on at Illinois "was a big adjustment," Gandawidjaja said. 

"I hadn't been playing at that level for a while," she said. "A lot of my teammates (at Illinois) played in ITA tournaments. That's not something that I ever did, and so seeing how my teammates played and how they were on court, that was a big change as well."

That match against Northern Iowa "was a new experience, getting to play alongside my teammates," she continued. 

"I really got to understand everything that coach says in our huddle," Gandawidjaja said. "It really is so mental. It's hard to concentrate on only your match when there's five other matches going on. You see that big scoreboard and see what your teammates are doing. It was a really cool experience to be able to have that. Also just competing in that nature, it's a whole different pressure of playing for your team compared to just for yourself."

While Gandawidjaja never got the chance to experience that feeling again, the only senior on this past season's Illini women's tennis team contributed in other ways. She did more than serve as a practice player in both singles and doubles, helping out especially as Illinois experienced injuries, but also in matches by cheering on teammates and offering encouragement. 

"She's a fantastic kid," Clark said. "She has been a great team person. We were super pleased with what she's done for the team."

What Clark had witnessed from Gandawidjaja and his Illinois team leading up to the cancelation of the season on March 12 led to "definitely one of the toughest" moments he's ever had as a coach. 

The Illini had off that day so Clark waited until that Friday — when Illinois was supposed to continue preparations for a March 22 road match at Penn State — to talk to his team about the abrupt end to the season. 

Gandawidjaja has since returned to California and has remained at her home in San Marino, a town of 13,147 residents in the northern suburbs of Los Angeles. 

Now that her college journey at Illinois is almost complete, Gandawidjaja was able to look back and realize just what it meant to be an Illini.

Coming here "had a huge impact for me," Gandawidjaja said. "I think I held on to a lot of what happened in high school just with my injury and not being able to see it to completion. In college, watching the women's team and also playing on the team, that allowed me to go back to my roots of how much I enjoyed the sport. You can get really caught up in how many tournaments you have to play and all of the sacrifices you have to make. You kind of lose sight of how much you enjoy the sport, and so I really found that again in college. 

"It just felt like something that gave me closure with my injury before. Being able to match up with some of my teammates, it kind of gave me confidence that by working hard and loving what you do, even if some things in the past didn't work out your way, it really can change in the future if you set your mind to it. That made a huge difference for me, and I honestly was pretty surprised by the opportunity. It really changed my college career."