Aiva Schmitz remembers her parents describe special moments during their athletic careers that made the hard work feel worthwhile.

The 2022 Kaiserslautern graduate made it a point to experience some of that herself during her sophomore year as a member of the University of Minnesota’s women’s tennis squad.

Five matches in the conference slate, Schmitz has clinched the victory for her team in all three of its wins this spring. In fact, she did it twice in one weekend.

“I get goosebumps just thinking about those moments because looking up into the crowd and seeing everyone jump up when you win and having your teammates rush you, it’s an unparalleled feeling,” she said. “I’m really, really fortunate to have experienced that three times this season.”

Schmitz’s play has been a part of a standout sophomore campaign that has the former Raider ace becoming an integral part of a resurgent Minnesota program.

Schmitz became the first Gopher to be named Big Ten Co-Player of the Year in four years when she received the honor March 13. It came after securing wins over Indiana (4-3) and then No. 48 and current No. 61 Purdue (4-1) on March 9 and 10.

The team wins led Minnesota to a brief stint on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Division I rankings at No. 72.

In those matches, the 5-foot-9 sophomore defeated Hoosier Li Hsin Lin 7-5, 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1) and Boilermaker Juana Larrañaga 6-2, 6-4.

Three weeks later, Schmitz delivered another clutch performance against Iowa. Minnesota downed the No. 62 Hawkeyes 4-1 at home on March 31, with Schmitz beating Barbora Pokorna 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Schmitz has caught fire in the spring, going 14-3 in singles. Overall, she’s 23-7 so far this year.

“It means even more to me when I know I’m contributing to the team,” Schmitz said of winning. “Yes, it feels good when I win, but if the team loses, then it still sucks and I’m still going to have tears in my eyes at the end.”

Losing was something Schmitz didn’t experience a whole lot in her junior tennis days.

She dropped one match while at Kaiserslautern – in her freshman year – while winning three DODEA European singles titles. On the German circuit, Schmitz won the U-12 Rheinland-Pfalz state title and the U-14, U-16 and U-18 crowns in Saarland. She has picked up two women’s state titles in Saarland as well.

At one point, she was ranked seventh in her age group across Germany.

Going to university took her from “a big fish in a small pond” to a “big fish in a pond with a lot of big fish” and proved challenging. She said she enjoyed not being the star, but her self-belief wavered at times as she struggled to a 12-9 singles mark her freshman campaign.

It also didn’t help as Schmitz played through foot fractures before Minnesota’s season was cut short because of too many injuries.

Schmitz’s support system helped, though. Her father, Frank, was a German professional tennis player, and her mother, Clare Barnard Schmitz, played basketball for Marquette University from 1993-1997. Aiva mentioned her mom’s advice as particularly helpful, as Clare, Marquette’s 18th all-time leading scorer, went from being the star in high school to the bottom rung of the ladder.

“I think the biggest thing was the confidence and being like, ‘I deserve to be here. I worked to get here just like everyone else and I’m just as good as everyone else here,’ even though at the beginning, it’s easy to think that you’re not,” Schmitz said.

Schmitz has proven herself on the courts this season, gaining more and more confidence with each win. She also pointed out the tutelage of new coach Lois Arterberry and her staff for bringing a positive attitude to the squad.

The coaches also had Schmitz focus on some of the weaker aspects of her game, such as her backhand. Not calling it a weakness, Schmitz admitted it was nowhere near as strong as her “weapon” in her forehand.

Now she considers the backhand a plus as well.

Schmitz also said strength training has aided her serves, which now hit 90 mph, although she still has room for improvement.

“We really made a couple of small changes and it’s been night and day,” Schmitz said. “Now, I feel like my backhand is just as big of a weapon as my forehand. … That has made a huge impact on my baseline game.”

Schmitz holds hopes she will continue to play a key role for the Gophers down the stretch.

Minnesota already has doubled its win total from last season at 10-7, and its 3-2 conference mark has the team in seventh place in the Big Ten, after finishing dead last in 2022-2023.

The improvement and wins over ranked opponents has the Gophers dreaming of making the NCAA Championships on May 16-25 in Waco, Texas. To do so, Minnesota either must win the Big Ten tournament April 24-28 in Ann Arbor, Mich., or finish ranked in the Top 40 in the nation.

The Gophers have plenty of opportunities to climb up the rankings, having matchups with No. 32 Illinois, No. 37 Northwestern, No. 2 Michigan and No. 54 Maryland on the docket.

“We definitely have shined against really, really good opponents and I think that’s a good sign,” Schmitz said. “We have just three more weekends of Big Ten play, a lot more opportunities against ranked opponents, too. I’m really excited.”

K-town Sports