Donahue Makes Name for Herself

There was a time when Agoura High tennis player Jennifer Donahue avoided media attention because she didn’t think she deserved it.

“She would ask, ‘Why does somebody want to do an article on me? I’m not good,’ ” Agoura Coach Stewart Limbert said.

Donahue thought just because she is the daughter of Terry Donahue, former UCLA football coach and current television commentator, that was no reason to do a story on her.

But Donahue, a senior who didn’t play competitive tennis until her sophomore year, has drawn attention on the court by blossoming into one of the top players in the Marmonte League.

She posted a 25-8 record this season in the toughest tennis league in the area, and has advanced to the league individual finals in each of the last two seasons, qualifying for the Southern Section individual tournament as a result.

Now she readily grants interviews, knowing it is her place on the seeding tree rather than on her family tree that attracts attention.

“I was really upset about [publicity] at first,” Donahue said. “Now I’m more proud of it. It doesn’t bother me anymore.”

Donahue, who skipped last season’s Southern Section tournament to be at her dad’s final USC-UCLA game, begins play today in the Southern Section sectionals.

She is a serve-and-volley player, a rarity at the high school level.

“My coaches totally molded me that way,” she said. “I started so much later than all the baseliners that there was no way I could catch up playing that way in such a short period of time.”

Donahue has improved considerably over a short period of time.

Last season she was Agoura’s No. 3 singles player, and steadily improved before pulling off an upset to reach the league final. This season, she was seeded second in the league tournament.