University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Meg Kowalski
March 24, 2022 | Women's Tennis, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
If it feels like Meg Kowalski has been playing on the Georgia women's tennis team for about a decade, there's a good reason why. She's been a standout player since she was a freshman and nobody has ever enjoyed being a Bulldog more than Kowalski.
Kowalski had an incredible freshman year in 2018-19, going a ridiculous 25-1 in singles and helping the Bulldogs win the ITA National Indoor Championships and reach the finals of the NCAA Championships. She was 12-4 as a sophomore before the season was halted by the coronavirus, and she went 25-4 last year, including a 13-3 record at the No. 3 singles spot after playing No. 6 her first two years.
So far this season, Kowalski, from Chicago, has a 13-4 record overall and she's 6-0 in dual matches this spring, playing matches at No. 5 or 6 singles. Heading into the No. 7-ranked Bulldogs' big weekend at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, with a match Friday against LSU and Sunday versus No. 12 Texas A&M, Kowalski has won her last six completed matches.
Kowalski, who graduated in December, is a fourth-year player, but this isn't her last go-round with the Bulldogs. She has one more year of eligibility because of the pandemic and she's going to use it. During a Quick Chat before practice Wednesday, she talked about her time at Georgia, her desire to play one more year, the joys of being part of a team, and much more.
Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: Does it feel like you've been here forever?
Kowalski: It does! [Laughs] But at the same time, I look at the freshmen on our team, we have a very young team, and I feel like I should be in their shoes. I feel like I should still be a freshman. With COVID taking away part of my sophomore year and last year still being kind of a COVID year, now I'm a senior and I'm like, what the heck? How am I here already?
Mindset-wise, I graduated in December and I started my Master's early to get a head start on everything, and I feel like I'm pretending that I'm actually not about to leave — because I don't want to leave. This is not a sad year yet, and I'm going to try not to think about it next year. I've had the best time ever and I don't want to think about my career ending.
I'm a fourth-year and I'm coming back for my fifth year, and I don't want to think about leaving. And maybe I'll come back for a sixth year if they'll let me.
Frierson: You don't have to leave Athens, you know. My parents met in school here in the mid-60s and have lived here ever since.
Kowalski: Maybe I'll stay here, I don't know. That's a decision I'll have to make in a few years — I pretend it's in a few years but it's really not [laughs]. We're going to say it's in a few years.
I feel like leaving the team, leaving the program, leaving Athens, I know that once I graduate (from grad school) and I'm done with my eligibility, I'll definitely live a different life. It will be sad not to see everybody and not be in the community.
Frierson: Given your passion and enthusiasm for college tennis, have you thought about coaching one day?
Kowalski: I hate to say it but I will not be coaching [laughs]. I am pretty set that after my last point I will play in tennis with the "G" on my chest, I hope to put down the racket and not pick it back up — unless someone gets me to do ALTA (Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association) league or something, wherever I am. I think I want to finish off my career and have that happy final moment.
I don't know if I have enough patience for coaching. Looking at (head coach Jeff Wallace and associate head coach Drake Bernstein), they're incredible coaches and I know that there are so many other great ones in UGA athletics. That's such a hard job to do and I know I raise hell for the coaches [laughs], so I don't know if I was in their place if I'd be able to handle people like me.
I think I'm excited for something new. Once I finish with UGA athletics, I want a new chapter. I'm already excited to enter the workforce and be a businesswoman, starting a new chapter and new journey in life. At the same time, I'm not going to be ready to leave next year when I have to say goodbye to my athletic career and everything.
Frierson: What is your favorite thing about playing tennis now? Has it changed from when you were a senior in high school?
Kowalski: I definitely think that my favorite part about playing tennis at the University of Georgia is the team aspect — 1,000%. After my freshman year, I played a summer tournament, it was a little prize-money tournament, I ended up winning it which was awesome, but I didn't enjoy it at all because there was no team. I won the tournament but the girls next to me, they weren't playing with the same "G" on their chest.
I think the family atmosphere here and buying into the Georgia family has had a big impact on my career. That's part of the reason I don't have any desire to play professionally. It's team or nothing for me [laughs].
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
If it feels like Meg Kowalski has been playing on the Georgia women's tennis team for about a decade, there's a good reason why. She's been a standout player since she was a freshman and nobody has ever enjoyed being a Bulldog more than Kowalski.
Kowalski had an incredible freshman year in 2018-19, going a ridiculous 25-1 in singles and helping the Bulldogs win the ITA National Indoor Championships and reach the finals of the NCAA Championships. She was 12-4 as a sophomore before the season was halted by the coronavirus, and she went 25-4 last year, including a 13-3 record at the No. 3 singles spot after playing No. 6 her first two years.
So far this season, Kowalski, from Chicago, has a 13-4 record overall and she's 6-0 in dual matches this spring, playing matches at No. 5 or 6 singles. Heading into the No. 7-ranked Bulldogs' big weekend at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, with a match Friday against LSU and Sunday versus No. 12 Texas A&M, Kowalski has won her last six completed matches.
Kowalski, who graduated in December, is a fourth-year player, but this isn't her last go-round with the Bulldogs. She has one more year of eligibility because of the pandemic and she's going to use it. During a Quick Chat before practice Wednesday, she talked about her time at Georgia, her desire to play one more year, the joys of being part of a team, and much more.
Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: Does it feel like you've been here forever?
Kowalski: It does! [Laughs] But at the same time, I look at the freshmen on our team, we have a very young team, and I feel like I should be in their shoes. I feel like I should still be a freshman. With COVID taking away part of my sophomore year and last year still being kind of a COVID year, now I'm a senior and I'm like, what the heck? How am I here already?
Mindset-wise, I graduated in December and I started my Master's early to get a head start on everything, and I feel like I'm pretending that I'm actually not about to leave — because I don't want to leave. This is not a sad year yet, and I'm going to try not to think about it next year. I've had the best time ever and I don't want to think about my career ending.
I'm a fourth-year and I'm coming back for my fifth year, and I don't want to think about leaving. And maybe I'll come back for a sixth year if they'll let me.
Frierson: You don't have to leave Athens, you know. My parents met in school here in the mid-60s and have lived here ever since.
Kowalski: Maybe I'll stay here, I don't know. That's a decision I'll have to make in a few years — I pretend it's in a few years but it's really not [laughs]. We're going to say it's in a few years.
I feel like leaving the team, leaving the program, leaving Athens, I know that once I graduate (from grad school) and I'm done with my eligibility, I'll definitely live a different life. It will be sad not to see everybody and not be in the community.
Frierson: Given your passion and enthusiasm for college tennis, have you thought about coaching one day?
Kowalski: I hate to say it but I will not be coaching [laughs]. I am pretty set that after my last point I will play in tennis with the "G" on my chest, I hope to put down the racket and not pick it back up — unless someone gets me to do ALTA (Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association) league or something, wherever I am. I think I want to finish off my career and have that happy final moment.
I don't know if I have enough patience for coaching. Looking at (head coach Jeff Wallace and associate head coach Drake Bernstein), they're incredible coaches and I know that there are so many other great ones in UGA athletics. That's such a hard job to do and I know I raise hell for the coaches [laughs], so I don't know if I was in their place if I'd be able to handle people like me.
I think I'm excited for something new. Once I finish with UGA athletics, I want a new chapter. I'm already excited to enter the workforce and be a businesswoman, starting a new chapter and new journey in life. At the same time, I'm not going to be ready to leave next year when I have to say goodbye to my athletic career and everything.
Frierson: What is your favorite thing about playing tennis now? Has it changed from when you were a senior in high school?
Kowalski: I definitely think that my favorite part about playing tennis at the University of Georgia is the team aspect — 1,000%. After my freshman year, I played a summer tournament, it was a little prize-money tournament, I ended up winning it which was awesome, but I didn't enjoy it at all because there was no team. I won the tournament but the girls next to me, they weren't playing with the same "G" on their chest.
I think the family atmosphere here and buying into the Georgia family has had a big impact on my career. That's part of the reason I don't have any desire to play professionally. It's team or nothing for me [laughs].
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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