MSUB SPORTS – The approach of Dillon High School tennis coach Lois Woodard is a simple one when it comes to providing advice and tips to her players in the middle of matches. She takes a more hands off angle, waiting behind the fence out of view until her boys and girls come to her in between sets.
 
Time and time again, when it was then-freshman Emily Paffhausen making her way over to seek Woodard's counsel, a look of puzzled concern overtook the face of the longtime coaching veteran. "Her freshman and sophomore year when she was playing singles, she would come to the fence and have tears in her eyes whether she was winning or losing," Woodard recalled. "It hurt a lot for her to lose, and she was so joyful when she was winning. She was a very emotional person."
 
As Paffhausen matured into an upperclassman for the Beavers, the tears became less frequent, and the success on the court took a positive trajectory upwards. As Paffhausen diligently developed her game, Woodard looked on knowing she had a special player on her hands.
 
Woodard could tell from Paffhausen's daily 6:30-4:30 shift working at her high school during the summer helping to paint and renovate the interior that she was special. She could tell it from the tears shed that the determination to improve and be the best player she could be was a rare characteristic that Paffhausen possessed.
 
What Woodard couldn't tell immediately was that it was going to be a long time before she found another Emily Paffhausen.
 

RANCHER'S DAUGHTER
 
Growing up in the small Montana town of Dillon, Paffhausen worked on her grandfather's ranch alongside her father Tom.
 
Her mother Camy is a high school teacher, and Paffhausen has fond memories of the bright Friday night lights surrounding the DHS football team during her prep days.
 
"I did some tennis camps when I was younger, but I really didn't start getting into it until high school," Paffhausen said. "Lois is the one who helped me the most. She finally gave me confidence in tennis and helped me believe in myself."
 
Along the way, Paffhausen tested her hand in softball and volleyball, but ultimately found her calling on the tennis courts. Never had she felt such a natural connection as she did when Woodard would ask her to stay late after practice and work on her technique.
 
"My confidence as an athlete started my freshman year in tennis," Paffhausen said. "Lois really showed interest in me and kept pushing me. It was fun and I actually started to succeed."
 
By Paffhausen's sophomore year, she had progressed into a top player at the Montana Class A level and entered the divisional tournament as the No. 4 seed. "I had to play this girl who was a senior and the No. 1 seed, and I remember the year before she beat me 6-0, 6-0," Paffhausen recalled.
 
This time, a more mature Paffhausen took to the court and didn't give in to the intimidation of facing a player with seniority over her. After splitting the first two sets, Paffhausen persevered through the third and held on for a victory. This time, the tears were joyous ones and she shared them with Woodard.
 
"I just remember that was the most insane match I have ever played," Paffhausen said. "It was so emotional."
 
In Woodard's mind, the victory signified that Paffhausen had emerged into a complete player. Refusing to give in during the grueling third set, and challenging her opponent with a fearless approach confirmed Woodard's early notion that Paffhausen was a unique player.
 
After two years of competing in singles play, Paffhausen took on a new role as a doubles player for her final two prep seasons. Unlike the college game where players compete in both singles and doubles, high school players are required to play one or the other for their team.
 
Success followed Paffhausen into the tandem game, as she and her partner advanced to the state finals in both her junior and senior seasons. While Paffhausen was frustrated in losing both matches, Woodard stood back and smiled as she recognized the big-picture potential that was unfolding in front of her.
 
"I had no clue that I could play college tennis," Paffhausen said. "Lois talked to the current coach at MSU Billings, Jerry Peach, and after I started talking to him it sparked my interest to come here."
 
As high school graduation approached, Paffhausen was torn between remaining in western Montana and attending school in Missoula and heading east to MSUB. The night after losing in the state finals in doubles her senior year, she and her parents went out for a meal after the match. "We got fortune cookies after we ate, and mine was, 'you will be rewarded for all of your hard work,'" Paffhausen recalled.
 
The very next day during her drive back from Great Falls, she received an email from MSUB head coach Lew Kosich. He had watched her at the state tournament, and there was a scholarship with her name on it to suit up in the navy and gold.
 
HELLO OLD FRIEND
 
As Paffhausen became acclimated with the college game, she faced adversity right away playing at the No. 2 position as a freshman. Though the wins were hard to come by, there was a noticeable difference in how Paffhausen handled defeat

compared to her emotional reactions early on in her prep career.
 
"I lost a lot my freshman year," Paffhausen said. "As a senior in high school my partner and I went 20-1, and I lost more matches in my first two weeks at MSUB than I had in my entire high school career. It was really eye opening."
 
Losing confidence and walking away from a tennis career she had worked so diligently to foster was not in Paffhausen's blood. Instead, she did the only thing she knew how to do: go back to work and find a way to get better.
 
Paffhausen's freshman-year roommate decided not to return to MSUB, and the timing worked out perfectly with a familiar face whom she had crossed paths with before. After grinding out the inspirational victory in the divisional round of the state tournament as a high school sophomore, little did Paffhausen know that her opponent in the next round, Mary Conwell, would end up being one of her lifelong friends.
 
"Mary and I knew each other fairly well by the time I was in college," Paffhausen said. "When I was a sophomore and needed a roommate, I got in touch with her and that's how we decided to live together."
 
"I was really excited because I knew Emily was a great person and it was going to be nice knowing someone and rooming with a teammate," Conwell said regarding entering MSUB as a freshman. "It helped me out so much, and she taught me how to be a college student all around."
 
Not only did Paffhausen and Conwell bond immediately as friends, they took to the courts as doubles partners and haven't looked back since. So far in 2015, they are having their best season yet as they have gone undefeated in conference play at the No. 2 doubles position for the Yellowjackets.
 
"Emily and Mary complement each other really well on the court," said MSUB head coach Becky King. "Their friendship is so strong that sometimes it seems like they don't even have to communicate. Each one knows what the other is doing at all times."
 
Conwell cited the trust the two players have in one another as the key to their success, as both players understand their roles. "We never question each other, and we know if it's a high ball I'll take the over or if it's a lob she will run back," Conwell said. "It comes with experience, and we read each other very well."
 
On top of being a successful athlete on the court, Paffhausen has served as a leadership model for all of her teammates and fellow student-athletes for the example she has set off of it. Holding a 3.92 grade point average, Paffhausen was recently honored for the second year in a row as a Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society selection for the Yellowjackets. Additionally, Paffhausen serves as her team's representative on MSUB's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
 
Paffhausen is studying secondary English, as her passion for teaching and helping others stems from her mother's example as a high school teacher. "Overall, I have had a great academic experience at MSUB," said Paffhausen, who will student-teach in Butte, Mont., this fall after receiving her bachelor's degree. "I am looking forward to hopefully teaching and coaching in Montana at the high school or middle school level in the near future. I chose a great school to earn my degree."
 
BORN A FIGHTER
 
"Emily finds a way to handle any type of obstacle in a positive way. She is one of the best defensive players I have ever seen. When you think the point is over, she gets the ball back more times than most players would. She is a fighter." – MSUB head coach Becky King on senior captain Emily Paffhausen
 
While Woodard witnessed Paffhausen's development as her coach during high school, King was also well aware of the potential Paffhausen had. Having coached against her several times throughout Paffhausen's prep years, King recognized a special trait that was hard to come by in most players, let alone teenagers.
 
"A lot of players will accept where they are at as players, but Emily has superseded that," commented King. "She never settles for where she is at and she hasn't in any way stopped her progression."
 
Part of that consistent progression that has shown up in Paffhausen's play this season lies within her maturity as a player and her building a greater understanding of the strategy behind the game. In the past when she may have tried to hit a shot with maximum strength, now her approach is to play the ball smarter and use an educated analysis of her opponent's tendencies to set her up in prime positioning.
 
"I think I am a smarter player than I was earlier in my career," Paffhausen said. "I've learned to keep my focus and mental game strong."
 
With the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships on the horizon this weekend and signifying the conclusion to Paffhausen's career, the role she has adopted as captain came naturally and has been a crucial one in terms of keeping motivation high throughout her team.
 
"Emily has stayed positive through everything this season," King said. "She hasn't missed a practice or a workout. She makes it a priority and has taken every task we have given her to heart. It is hard to find someone like that at this level."
 
Paffhausen credits her parents for equipping her with her positive mindset, as they have encouraged and supported her for her entire life. "My parents have been my biggest role models, and especially my mom with her career as a teacher," Paffhausen said. "My dad has a flexible job, and both my parents have always been there to come to my games."
 
AN OPEN LETTER TO LOIS
 
While Paffhausen's playing career will come to a close this weekend, the one she has in front of her is a limitlessly bright one. She is on her way to pursuing her passions of teaching and coaching tennis, and is set to carry on a career of teaching in Montana that spans back to her great grandmother who taught in Huntley.
 
"Emily is from a solid family, and her family means a tremendous amount to her," Woodard said. "She has always been very close to her family and respected them, and those are qualities I don't always see in young people today."
 
It is these qualities that Lois Woodard has always admired in Emily Paffhausen, and while she may not truly understand exactly how she has shaped the life of the Yellowjacket standout, the results she has witnessed have given her a sense of fulfillment.
 
When Paffhausen graduated from high school, her mother Camy came to Woodard and told her that one day, when she could do it without crying, she would scribe a letter to the coach explaining to her how she changed Emily's life.
 
"I haven't gotten that letter yet, but I've wanted it because I want to know what I did," Woodard said.
 
The day may never come when Camy Paffhausen can compose that token of appreciation without watery eyes. But after all the tears of frustration and triumph that have gone into making Emily into the incredible person that she has become, perhaps it would be a fitting conclusion if her mother's tears of joy signify her thanks to Lois.