There’s something to be said for consistency, and the play of North Hall’s Rachel Langman says it well.

In her three years on the varsity tennis team, the Lady Trojans’ senior amassed a 54-4 record including a 14-3 campaign this season at No. 1 doubles.

Trumping the impressive nature of those statistics is the fact that she never lost a region match, and played with three different partners.

"This year was the same as it’s been the whole time," North Hall coach Roger Fannon said. "She’s just a great doubles player and quite a young lady."

For her efforts, Langman is The Times 2009 Girls Tennis Player of the Year.

A dose of peer pressure mixed with the possibility of fun is what led Langman to, as a freshman, first pick up a racket.

The following year, her first as a varsity doubles player, she and her partner went undefeated in region play as part of North Hall’s only region title in Langman’s tenure.

"I’m a very competitive person," said Langman, who will be attending the University of Georgia in the fall. "Going undefeated piqued my motivation, and I wanted to keep it going from that point forward."

It was in Langman’s sophomore year that her knack for consistent play started to show through, as well as two qualities that allowed Fannon to feel comfortable matching her with any partner: intelligence and communication.

"She knows strategy so well," Fannon said. "She knows what to do and is such a wonderful leader — it’s like having a coach actually on the court.

"Rachel (Langman) was always so good at figuring out her opponent’s weakness and then communicating that with her partner."

According to Fannon, it was also nice to have someone on the team who could be counted on.

"Rachel is that person that gets others around her to do the right things," Fannon said. "You could count on Rachel every practice and every match you played."

Langman’s winning wasn’t solely based on the cerebral or leadership, however, she’s also a pretty good athlete.

That fact evidenced by her running the ING Half Marathon, a 13-mile jaunt around Atlanta, on March 24, midway through her senior tennis season.

"Yea, that probably wasn’t the smartest thing for me to do," said Langman with a laugh. "I’d been doing CrossFit though for about two years and a group from there came up with a training schedule.

"I thought (the race) would be a great accomplishment and it was a great experience."

Her athleticism manifested itself on the tennis court by way of her ability to hit angles and place the ball.

"She didn’t make many errors," Fannon said. "She hit angles well and kept it away from the net which is the point of doubles."

With a succesful tennis career behind her, and college life ahead, Langman looks back with little regret.

"I learned a lot from playing tennis," Langman said, "I’ve been fortunate to have great tennis partners. We communicated well together and I had a great coach as well.

"I’m very pleased with my career."