Shafer Bouncing Back To Old Form

The game of tennis has always been a passion for 2009 Warsaw Community High School graduate Deon Shafer, but it was almost taken away from him. After his stellar career at Warsaw, Shafer’s ability on the tennis court helped him get an athletic scholarship at IUPUI in Indianapolis, where he hit the ground running. Despite coming in as a No. 1 singles player, Shafer quickly realized the difference between high school and collegiate tennis. “It was definitely a shock as a freshman,” he said. “I think I won like one match at No. 1 singles, and I remember playing a guy who was ranked 10th or 15th in the country. I thought I played one of my best matches against him, but it didn’t go well. It’s just a different level of competition. “In high school, I could make three or four good shots and get the win,” he said. “In college, it’s more about structuring a point and setting it up. You have to be more assertive. In high school, if my serve wasn’t working well, I could just go to my forehand or move up to the net to score. Now, if my serve isn’t working, I have to have three or four different game plans to go to.” Playing 1, 2 and 3 singles as a freshman, Shafer compiled a 6-17 record, going 4-2 in Summit League play. However, toward the tail end of the season, he began to feel discomfort in his right shoulder, leading him to visit the doctor’s office. “I wasn’t expecting much more than a partial labral tear or something,” Shafer said. “When I did got the results, my doctor was like, ‘Holy cow.’” Instead of suffering something minor, Shafer had actually suffered a torn rotator cuff, bicep tendon and labrum. It took Shafer three months to rehab from the surgery, doing so with his brother-in-law Aaron Turner at Kosciusko Community Hospital, but then another setback occurred. “About two weeks before I was finished with all the rehab, I suffered some nerve damage, which didn’t allow me to raise my arm above my shoulder,” Shafer said. According to Shafer, the nerve damage was unrelated to his surgery, but did leave him sidelined for his entire sophomore season. “I was able to go to meets and hit the ball around, so it did actually help me work on my backhand,” he said. Suffering the nerve damage in September of 2010, a month later Shafer wrote in his journal that God willing, he would back to playing within the year. “I wrote, ‘If God wills it, I’ll be playing by next year,’” he said. As it was, he was back on the court in August. He took part in some competitions that summer and fall, gearing up for IUPUI’s spring season, which has seen him bounce back. Beginning the season at No. 6 singles, Shafer’s been working his way up, garnering awards along the way. Following a week in which he joined Thomas Gans in doubles victories over Northern Illinois, Chicago State, Valparaiso and Wisconsin-Green Bay, he also picked up No. 6 singles wins over each team, leading to a Summit League Player of the Week Award on Feb. 21.

Continuing to work his way back to his old form, Shafer again won the award this week, helping IUPUI defeat Western Illinois 6-1 Saturday. But prior to winning the player-of-the-week awards, Shafer was seeing signs of improvement. Taking on No. 7 Kentucky on Jan. 22, Shafer and Armaan Choudhary teamed up to get an 8-7 (7-5) win at No. 3 doubles, then fell in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 6 singles. “I was playing at No. 6 singles then, but I began to progress up,” Shafer said. On top of that non-conference match, Shafer’s also fond of a Summit League win over the University of Missouri-Kansas City on March 3 in Indianapolis. “They won the conference last year and are a big conference rival for us,” Shafer said. In that match, which IUPUI won 4-3, Shafer and Gans fell at No. 3 doubles by a 8-4 count, but Shafer bounced back in his No. 4 singles match. “Our team score was tied at 3-3 and came down to the third set of my match,” Shafer said. “I was able to win the third set 6-4, which was the deciding match for the team. That was a highlight for me.” On the year, the IUPUI Jaguars sit at 9-13, but are 4-0 in the Summit League, wrapping up their regular season conference schedule Friday at IPFW In Fort Wayne at 3 p.m. A win at IPFW would leave IUPUI with its second ever regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the April 27-28 Summit League Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. “With two wins at the conference tournament, you’re in the NCAA tournament,” he said. His match in Fort Wayne will be the second time he’s played there this season, having faced South Dakota State on March 23, but he’s not complaining about returning. “(Against South Dakota State) I had a lot of family and friends there,” he said. “I had my mom, dad, aunts and uncles there. It was more of a home match. I actually played in Fort Wayne when I was growing up. I’m familiar with the people and courts there. It’s more of a reunion each time I go but we do have a job to do there, which is to win and get the No. 1 seed.” And with Shafer’s shoulder bouncing back, the Jaguars are that much closer to the top seed, which may make it easier to win their first ever tournament title. “This is our best opportunity to win as a team,” Shafer said.