Once Kennedy Robinson arrived at Nevada, the Wolf Pack started winning in women’s tennis. The year before the Henderson native’s arrival, Nevada finished ninth in the Mountain West. During her freshman season, the Wolf Pack improved to fifth. And as a sophomore last year, Nevada placed second as Robinson went 14-7 in singles and 19-7 in doubles. The Wolf Pack is aiming for a MW title in Robinson’s junior season, which began in the fall and will culminate this spring. And one of the biggest questions Robinson faced while preparing for college was whether she’d run track or play tennis. Her first campus visit to Nevada actually came with the track team as Robinson won two gold medals and two silvers at the Nevada large-class state track and field championships as a high school senior at Liberty High. After picking tennis, Robinson has helped elevate the Wolf Pack to new heights, including a school-record 17 victories last season.

For her impact on the Wolf Pack, Robinson is Nevada Sports Net’s Wolf Pack Athlete of the Month for November. You can watch our interview with her below or read the Q&A underneath that. This feature is presented in partnership with Champion Chevrolet.

Q&A with Kennedy Robinson

NSN: Let’s talk a little bit about your history in tennis. Why was that your chosen sport, and how did you get so good at it?

Kennedy Robinson: Honestly, I had kind of a late start compared to most people. I think that most people who are at this level in tennis start when they’re like 4, 5 and 6. But I tried a bunch of different sports before and started when I was 10. I kind of got the itch to start because my mom used to play tennis. That kind of was my start there. And how did I get so good? Just a lot of practice. It takes a ton of dedication, a lot of traveling, but I really enjoyed it. I’m really competitive, and it’s an individual sport, so it’s a good way to really like hone in on yourself.

NSN: You grew up in Las Vegas and said your mom played tennis. She didn’t push you in early? Did she want you to get into the sport but maybe didn’t necessarily nudge you too much?

Kennedy Robinson: No, she didn’t push me at all. I tried YMCA when I was much younger, but I actually didn’t like it. So, I tried a bunch of different sports and then I was, like, “OK, maybe I wanna go back to it,” and then it’s stuck ever since so

NSN: When did you know you could be this good, that you could be a college-level player and have a future after the high school?

Kennedy Robinson: Honestly, probably not until the end, like my sophomore and junior year of high school, especially with COVID, that kind of threw everything off. I knew I might have been able to go to college, but not necessarily Division I. So, I just started reaching out to schools and getting into contact with coaches. Once I finally started getting the replies, that’s when I was, like, “OK, maybe it can happen.”

NSN: What was your recruitment like with Nevada? Did they reach out to you? Did you reach out to them? How did your relationship with coach Guillaume Tonelli start to build?

Kennedy Robinson: I actually reached out to him. I was playing the state tournament in Reno. So, I was, like, “I might as well reach out and maybe I can visit the school.” And I actually didn’t want to come to Reno at first. I’d been for some other sports activities and didn’t like the city at first. But then I visited, it was in the fall, so all the trees were changing and the weather was beautiful in my opinion. That was the first thing that kind of won me over. And then I had the visit. I obviously hit it off with my coach and the school is beautiful.

NSN: Did you surprise yourself that you ended up coming here to play for the Wolf Pack? Being from Las Vegas, I know there’s a little bit of a rivalry there and the climate and the cities are very different as well.

Kennedy Robinson: Yeah, I actually when I was thinking about going to college that I didn’t want to go to UNL V. And everyone was, like, “Oh, you’re going to the rival school,” but I was happy to kinda get away a little bit. And that was definitely a surprise because I was pretty against coming here at first, but then I clearly changed my mind and I’m really happy since.

NSN: You’re in your junior year. Before you got here, there wasn’t a ton of success for this program. Your first year, you guys did really well. Your second year, you guys were one of the best teams in the Mountain West. I don’t wanna give you all the credit, but what’s it been like to be part of that turnaround for the program and see how many wins and how much success you’ve had the last couple of years?

Kennedy Robinson: I think the year before I came we were ninth in the conference. After my first year, we were fifth. And then last year, we were second. I think the biggest reason for that is our team is really close. It’s kind of rare for all the girls to get along and we all like have each other’s backs, so we’re really close as a team. We all have a really good relationship with our coaches. Obviously there’s hiccups here and there, but I think way more than other teams we get along with our coaches and teammates. Since it’s been a lot of the same girls, we all kind of have honed in on the same goal, which is being successful. We’re easily able to push each other, and it helps to not have a bunch of new people coming in and out, keeping the same group definitely helps with our success.

NSN: Second place in the Mountain West last year. What’s it gonna take to take that next step because you do return almost everybody from last year’s team, so I’m sure the expectations are super high?

Kennedy Robinson: Like you said, we do have almost everybody from last year. Last year we came close and it left a bit of a sour taste in our mouth, but I think it’s just making us hungrier as a team. Almost every day we kind of like make a joke or reference about winning and doing well. I think we have really high expectations. We want to do as good as last year if not better, or definitely better. I think it’d be really special to everyone because we’ve all worked really hard together, so it’s nice to not only do it for ourselves or the school, but each other as well.

NSN: You’re our second in a row Wolf Pack athlete of the month from the women’s tennis team. Last month it was Amahée Charrier, who’s the reigning Mountain West player of the year. In that interview, she called you her little sister. What do you think of that moniker? Do you accept that? You’re only like a year younger than her, right?

Kennedy Robinson: No, we’re one day. She’s one day older than me, so technically I would be the little sister, but this is a running joke in our friendship and I think that I’m the bigger sister of the two of us. So, we’re always asking people, “Who do you think’s more mature?” and we’re always getting different answers. But it’s just kind of a fun game we have, but we’re sisters anyway.

NSN: You’re very good on the tennis court. I did want to bring up your track history. At Liberty High School in Henderson, Nev., you won four medals your senior year at the state championship — two gold, two silver. You won the 300-meter hurdles. Was track ever gonna be in your future in college? Have you went up to Coach Shantel Twiggs, the Nevada track and field coach, and said, “Hey, if you need some speed, I’m here for ya?”

Kennedy Robinson: It’s pretty funny. I had a little bit of a hiccup in the road with tennis as it’s a very unique sport. So, I started running track in high school and totally fell in love with it and ended up luckily having a lot of success. And I actually visited Nevada first for track.

NSN: Oh, wow.

Kennedy Robinson: So, I came to the school first through a track visit, and that’s when I initially started changing my mind on coming here. But unfortunately track and tennis are the same season in college. Ideally, I would have tried to do both, but I had to come to a decision. During my recruiting process I took track and tennis visits to different schools, but I knew since I had two visits at this school it was one of my top picks and then I kind of made a list of pros and cons, and it was a pretty close race, but I ended up choosing tennis and I’m really happy with my decision.

NSN: Where’d that athleticism come from if you could have been either way?

Kennedy Robinson: I guess my parents, for sure, but I just liked training a lot and being busy and track’s kinda one of those sports in high school that the coaches think, “If they’re good in another sport, they can definitely be good in something here,” and then I got really close with my high school track coaches which made a pretty big impact for me.

NSN: And the last one for you, so Nevada-UNLV football is going to be played coming up here with the Fremont Cannon on the line. Do you have a prediction for that game? Wolf Pack or Rebels, who wins?

Kennedy Robinson: My prediction of course is the Wolf Pack. We just came off of a huge win that I was in attendance for. And I’m actually coming home from Las Vegas to be here for that game to give some support and everything and so is my team. We have some good expectations and no matter what anyone thinks, I think we’ll take the win.

NSN: All right, the Fremont Cannon will be blue. You heard it first from Kennedy Robinson of the Nevada women’s tennis team.

You can view our previous Wolf Pack Athlete of the Month interviews here.