Westmoreland County Senior Spotlight: Derry’s Danielle Dominick

By: Anthony DiFilippo
Monday, October 9, 2023 | 10:58 AM

Tennis looks like an individual sport to the untrained eye, but in high school, the team aspect is as strong as any other sport.

For Derry’s Danielle Dominick, who plays soccer as well, it’s pretty easy for her to make sure the team feels like one.

“Whether I’m on the court or done with my match, I’m always trying to encourage my teammates to give their best,” Dominick said. “It’s also important for the other girls that aren’t currently playing matches to go around and cheer everyone that are playing matches on.”

Derry (5-2) just finished its season in second place in the section after closing out the schedule with a win over Mt. Pleasant.

Despite competing in tennis for only a few months out of the year, Dominick is the Trojans’ No. 1 singles player.

As the third seed in the section singles tournament, she reached the finals, falling to No. 1 seed Sasha Hoffman of Greensburg Central Catholic.

“I competed for every point and played as consistently as I could,” Dominick said. “When I was out on the court, I put out my best effort as the matches got more and more difficult.”

That pushed her forward to the WPIAL singles tournament, where she bowed out in the first round. The fact that she was able to qualify was an impressive feat in itself.

“I was really excited that I made it as I only play tennis during the short season,” Dominick said. “It was a great opportunity to go and see what higher levels of play are like.”

Dominick has not yet decided on a college or an intended major, but she hopes to play either tennis or soccer.

She took some time out of her busy week for a Senior Spotlight Q-and-A:

How did you get started with tennis?

My older sister actually joined the team when she was a freshman and I was a middle schooler. I thought it was cool and decided that I’d play when I got in high school, too.

Are you satisfied with finishing second in the section as a team?

I’m thrilled that we made it to second. We lost our third and second singles from last year due to them being seniors, and it is always hard when you lose one of the top three, let alone two. It’s really hard for the girls coming up to get into a singles mindset rather than a doubles one. Everyone put in a lot of work to make it to where we are. I’m proud that we were able to accomplish this feat this year.

What’s the difference in mindset between singles and doubles?

With doubles, you really have to focus on a lot of communication between partners because there’s four players on the court. You have to constantly be thinking where’s the ball going, where’s the front person and if this ball goes over, do I have to change how me and my doubles partner are positioned. With singles, you mostly have to think about where you can put a shot that the other person has to move to. You have a lot more choices on where you can put the ball.

What’s your favorite memory from your high school sports career?

Going out to eat with the team. It’s always really nice to relax and just talk with each other after a hard match.

What is one thing that people might not know about you?

I actually mainly play soccer. I’m a goalkeeper for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. I only play tennis for the two months of the season during school. Other than that, I play soccer almost all year round.

Tags: Derry Area