Her rehabilitation started with baby tennis, which she started playing at seven years old.
Olivia Ward had a long road back when major thoracic surgery jeopardized her playing career. In February 2018, as she neared the end of her sophomore year, her right hand wasn’t strong enough to hold a tennis request.
Her nerves stopped communicating with her muscles, which required surgery from Thomas D’Amico at Duke University Medical Center, who once performed a similar procedure on former New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey.
Six months later, Ward returned to reach the 3A State doubles tournament with Alana Lutz. Though she had been a member of Cedar Ridge’s 2018 Big 8 Championship team, she had never qualified for the state singles championships, a goal since she was a middle schooler.
“(In singles), the responsibility is on me,” Ward said. “I can say that I got there on my own because it’s just you on the court against someone else. Going with Alana in doubles was a great experience, and I missed playing without her this year.”
To qualify for the state championships, Ward had to reach the semifinals of the 3A Mideast Regionals. After she defeated a representative from Terry Sanford in the opening round, Ward faced Orange’s Jera Hargrove.
It would be the final match they would ever play against each other, and while it was a rivalry, it was a civil one. They were friends off the court. On September 23, Hargrove defeated Ward 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 10-4 (10-point tiebreaker in the third set), as Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 5-4 on the Red Wolves’ senior night.
Now, Hargrove was in Ward’s way of reaching the state championships.
“It was bittersweet,” Ward said. “Jera and I have always been, I would say, friends. Every time we play each other, it’s a great match. I wish it would have been both of us going. I wish we went to the same school. We could have advanced to regionals together and wouldn’t have had to play each other.”
What followed at the Burlington Tennis Center was a grinding two-and-a-half hour match. After Hargrove evened the match with a 6-4 win in the second set, Ward sat down, started eating between sets and then remembered why she had trained to come back 18 months ago.
“It was a mental switch,” Ward said. “I had this feeling the I wasn’t going to lose. I don’t think I played any better or worse. I think it was just my attitude that changed how that third set went. It was worth it just to ride home with my Dad and meet my goal to make states.”
And she did. Ward captured the third set 6-1 to advance to the semifinals. It was a match featuring the two best female tennis players in Hillsborough, and its symbolism wasn’t lost on Ward.
“If I had lost that match, it would have been a loss I would have been happy about,” Ward said. “Because Jera would have been going. Either way, I would have been happy with the outcome. She’s a great player.”
In states, Ward lose to eventual 3A state champion Rose Kennedy of Charlotte Catholic, who lost only five games in four matches.
Last month, Ward signed with Methodist College to play college tennis.