Aug 26, 2018 7 min read

For many years, tennis was just part of her existence and every day life.

Sarah Riske would not have had it any other way.

Her passion for the game drove her. The will to win and succeed led her to enjoy one of the best high school careers in Pennsylvania girls tennis history.

She won many championships, brought tremendous success to Peters Township High School and enjoyed a standout career at Vanderbilt University.

“I take a lot of pride in it all,” said Riske, who resides in Nashville, Tenn., with her husband, Todd McGlamery, and their 3 1/2-year-old son, Braden.

“I did it so long,” she said. “I look back with extremely fond memories. I do miss it. It was part of what I did each day as a kid, teenager, in college and in trying to make it on the (professional) tour.”

Riske, 37, was a two-time PIAA singles champion for Peters Township in 1998 and 1999. She won a national Under-18 Grass Court championship.

At Vanderbilt, Riske was a four-time All-American. She was part of a team that finished as NCAA runner-up her sophomore year and was an outstanding singles and doubles player for the Commodores.

Her love for tennis and her competitive nature has not waned.

Riske coached and mentored her younger sister, Alison, who is now on the professional tour and has found some success in Grand Slam events, having advanced to the third round of Wimbledon three times, and the fourth round of the U.S. Open in 2013. She twice reached the third round of the Australian Open. Her highest world ranking was No. 36 and she is currently No. 76.

Sarah Riske watches her sister and follows her career by whatever means she can. It keeps her close to the game.

“Playing tennis was who I was for a long time,” Sarah Riske said. “I still play a little bit. But I struggle with it because of my competitive nature. When I’m out there I want to win. So there is no such thing as fun on the court.

“It’s kind of hard to relate now because I’m a working mother. Before I was just known as an athlete.”

Riske works in manufacturing sales.

She manufactured a lot of great tennis at Peters Township.

Riske raised the athletic prowess of a school that has produced professional athletes in baseball, soccer and hockey along with standouts in other sports.

Joe Maize, the longtime athletic director at Peters Township and highly successful baseball coach for the Indians, puts Riske at the top of the list.

“Sarah has been the most dominate athlete in her particular sport that we have had at Peters Township,” Maize said. “She’s a great person and comes from a wonderful family.”

Those are profound words given the fact Maize’s own baseball program has produced major league and minor league baseball players, including Brian Simmons and Chris Peters. The boy’s soccer team produced professionals in Justin Evans and Steve Bell. Matt Clackson and Christian Hanson were professional hockey players.

“I am thankful for everything I was given, including so much help from my parents,” Riske said. “(Maize’s) words are overwhelming and amazing. I am honored to hear that. I had a lot of help along the way.”

Riske credits her father Al, and mother, Carol, for providing so much support and guidance.

She said that while focusing so much on tennis as a youth, through high school and college, it was not a sacrifice to her.

“It’s exactly what I wanted to do,” she explained. “I was so single-minded then. I wanted to be on the court whether it be taking lessons, practicing or playing.

“I look back and I realize I may not have had the same college experience as others. To me, it was not a sacrifice. Playing tennis kept me focused. It kept me out of trouble. My coaches and teammates were my family. They all looked out for me.

“I was so passionate about it, I can’t call it a sacrifice. My parents are the ones who sacrificed. They were the ones who provided the opportunities. They were the ones who followed me around and tried to make everything perfect. They took away from their own time. That is sacrifice. It taught me that you focus everything on your children being a good parent.”

At Vanderbilt, Riske and the Commodores were special. The program was consistently ranked nationally in the top five.

In her senior season, Riske was ranked No. 1 in doubles and in the top 10 in singles.

“Of course, I have some regrets,” Riske said. “I had an amazing experience at Vanderbilt. I had amazing coaches. Geoff Macdonald, our head coach, helped me so much. I think I maxed out my talent there.”

Riske said her son is “not big with the racket yet” but the two do work on coordinating skill development.

“The coach in me is still there,” she chuckled.

“I coached Allison a long time. I felt like it was important for me to be there for her. It got to the point though I felt I wasn’t able to help her along anymore. She needed new coaches and to hear it from someone else.”

Allison Riske will be competing in the U.S. Open Championship this week. Sarah will be intently watching her every move.

It has been that way for some time now. Tennis is a family affair for the Riske kids. Their brother, Dan Riske, played at West Liberty University.

Alison Riske, who played only one year at Peters Township and then was a Pennsylvania cyber school student, followed her sister to Vanderbilt. Alison won a PIAA singes title her one year at the school and the team won the state title.

The younger Riske was destined and prepared to make it on the professional tour with the help of her big sister.

“It’s so exciting for me to watch her,” Sarah Riske said. “I just want the world for her. She’s having a great career and hasn’t reached her potential yet.”

Perhaps the most important lessons Sarah Riske helped her sister with was how to deal with professional tennis and the many other demands that go with it.

“I didn’t handle that (professional) lifestyle very well,” Sarah Riske said. “It’s very lonely. I don’t remember the tennis so much as I do the other stuff. I did all the traveling by myself. You set it all up yourself. I was stubborn and didn’t have a coach travel with me. I made some mistakes. It was really tough for me.

“You go from college, where all the arrangements are taken care of for you. You could go play a match after a half-night’s sleep and hours of studying and be successful. Trying to play on a professional tour, that is a totally different level and is much more difficult. At that level, you can be playing well and have more losses than victories. Honestly, it broke me down. I don’t think I had another level to go to.”

Riske took that experience and discussed it with her sister.

“I wanted Ally to know what all was involved,” she said. “She handles it much better than me.”

Big sister has to get a grip sometimes while watching her younger sibling.

“Sometimes it’s so hard to watch,” she said. “I was way more level-headed when I played than I am being a spectator. It’s exciting to watch her and pull for her. There are times I’m screaming at the TV or computer screen. But I love to watch her. I am super into it.”