The best game you’ve ever played

Junior Aaron Hawley, men’s basketball:

“My best game ever would probably be high school, my senior year. It was the semifinals of the state tournament, and I had 32 points, and we played the No. 1 team in the state, so we beat them to go to the championship.”

Freshman Amanda Dick, women’s tennis:

“It was my senior year, and I was in a United States Tennis Association tournament in the Chicago area. I was warming up against the No. 2 seed of the tournament, and I realized that my usual favorite racket was kind of broken in the frame, so I was going with my second choice. I was warming up, and then it started feeling weird, and it was making funny sounds, so I looked at the frame, and what had been a crack had turned into the same thing that was going on with my other racket where the frame was starting to cave in on itself. So, I had two broken rackets, no extras, and I was like, ‘Well, I can’t forfeit the match because I’ve never done that,’ and I refuse to do that to this day. So, I just said, ‘Okay, I guess I’m playing with a broken racket,’ and I won in two sets against the No. 2 seed with a broken racket. Then, I had another match after that, and had to play with broken rackets again and won that match as well and made it to the final. So, probably the best matches I’ve played considering my rackets were against me.”

Senior Mike Piatkowski, football:

“My best game ever was probably last year. We played Campbell at home, and it was just a great game for the team defensively and then offensively, we completed 30-33 passes and just great flow to the game and ended up winning.”

Junior Bentley Mancini, volleyball:

“I’ll have to go with this past season. We played Kansas State, and it was kind of the highlight of my career so far. I think I had 18 kills or something like that, but just the atmosphere at Kansas State, they completely underestimated us and we got going. We gave them a run for their money. We just barely lost in five (sets), and they’re a really, really good team, so that was definitely the highlight of my career because I stepped up and showed the team what I was capable of. We all rallied, and it was an awesome experience.”

Junior Laura Moklestad, women’s soccer:

“The best game ever would be my freshman year when we played Creighton. They’re our biggest rival and it was just a really well-fought game. We were trying to work really hard for the seniors and it ended up going into overtime. Then, one of our seniors, Liz Woerle, scored the game-winning goal. It was six minutes into the overtime, so it was just really awesome to see our team working together so hard for that common goal. I think it was one of our best games that we played. We all just had that drive, and it was just a really fun game, but a challenging game too. Creighton was a very good team, so to get that win was really exciting. It just really pumped up our team a lot.”

Junior Anis Ghorbel, men’s tennis:

“It was definitely during the (Missouri Valley Conference) regionals last fall. It was the semifinals of the regionals, and I played this guy who’s No. 1 in Nebraska. Before the match, I knew it was going to be really tough to play this guy and to beat him, but I talked to my coach (Evan Austin), and we set a plan to go into the match and play with it. I actually played the game that I had to play to beat this guy, and I played perfect tennis. I was really, really solid on the court, didn’t miss that much. I was playing very aggressive; probably 80 percent of first serves, which helped me a lot. I was moving really, really well, just being solid, not giving him any free points or chances to come back in the match, and I beat the guy 6-3, 6-3, which is a very good score against a guy like that who is like top 40 in the nation. I was really happy with the way I played against him, and hopefully I keep playing like that, which is what I’m doing right now. I’m playing as well as a can. Just keeping on working hard and keep listening to what coach tells me and just try to play my best tennis.”

Sophomore Brogan Austin, men’s cross-country/track and field:

“One of my best races was during last year at the Drake Relays in the 10-kilometers. There are not many chances to have your best race as a runner because of all the adversities that come with running. But on this day my legs were fresh, my mind was right and the weather was perfect. I still had never broke fifteen minutes in the five-kilometers at the time, but I still managed to run 29:54 for the10-kilometers, which is equivalent to 14:57 per five kilometers. I was lucky enough that a kid from Georgia paced me for the first seven kilometers, which is most likely why I succeeded the way I did. After I finished the race I was filled with joy, as I had smashed all odds. The time eventually helped me qualify for outdoor regionals at Oregon University and my 10-kilometers time held up as the fourth fastest freshman in Division I.”

Sophomore Hadley Jennings, women’s golf:

“My best round ever was in Springfield, Mo., on Oct. 17, 2011. I shot 75. I remember playing the front nine, I shot even par and I kept thinking to myself that this is too good to be true. I am finally playing really good golf, and I remember thinking I know I had some bogeys but I fired right back with birdies and I could feel my mom and dad (who were following) and how proud they were of me. I really started to relax and play golf. I had some bad holes on the back nine and putted pretty poorly with four three putts (two is average per hole) and if I would have just two putted those holes, I would have shot 71, one under par, but I remember thinking how easy that round was. How everything fit into place, and I was really steady with my emotions which is important in golf. I remember with about two holes to finish I really started to think about how good the round was going and how if I parred? My last two holes I would have shot a 73. I then put pressure on myself and bogeyed the last two holes, but it was one of those rounds where I just felt so extremely happy afterwards. Golf is a crazy game where you have ups and downs and emotional highs and lows, but I remember feeling just content and proud of myself. That day I really started to believe in my own head that I was a good golfer. I had always been told that growing up, but I never really believed it until that moment. I just remember feeling confident over every shot and was hitting the ball the best I had all season. I just remember feeling like all my hard work had finally paid off.”