Let’s face it, at 6-feet, 6-inches tall and weighing in at a lean 200 pounds,
Sam Querrey looks like the proto-typical American athlete.
Although he was introduced to tennis at age four by his mother, it’s no surprise that Querry also dabbled in basketball, table tennis and golf as a youngster.
After graduating high school, Querrey faced a similar crossroads that his father had seen a few decades before. A top tennis player, Querrey could turn pro and try his chances on reaching the ATP Tour, or he could go to college, on a full-tilt scholarship to the University of Southern California.
He chose the tennis route, based largely on his father’s regret for playing college baseball at Arizona after getting drafted out of high school by the Detroit Tigers.
Mike Querrey wasn’t just some late-round flyer pick by the Tigers, either. Detroit scouts loved his sweet swing and took him in the fifth round of the 1979 draft.
At Arizona, he led the Wildcats in home runs and runs batted in during 1981, but never achieved his dream of reaching the majors.
While Sam decided to turn pro, his sister
Ellen opted to follow in dad’s footsteps, heading for Arizona on a volleyball scholarship. Ellen was a California Interscholastic Federation All-American outside hitter at Thousand Oaks High School, and shares the family gene for height, standing an even six feet tall.
Ellen didn’t play much as a freshman in 2009 for the Wildcats, but is expected to step into a larger role this fall for the squad that competes in the PAC-10, one of the toughest conferences in all of college volleyball. Currently ranked 20th in the world, Sam Querrey has five career single championships and two career doubles titles.
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