Look into the eyes of Downers Grove South junior Jenny Hois when she’s on the tennis court and you’ll see a range of emotions.
There is the joy she gets from playing, the competitive fire that has fueled her rise as one of the best players in the state and the frustration of sometimes missing a shot.
What you will never see, even on the rare occasions she loses, are tears. More than most people her age, Hois knows what real loss is.
Hois is the youngest of three daughters in a family that has known triumph and tragedy. Her oldest sister, Erin, is regarded as the best badminton player Illinois has produced, having won three state championships without losing a match. But it was her other sister, Rachel, whom Jenny was closest to.
Rachel Hois was born with a severely deformed heart. She underwent several surgeries, including one that left her with brain damage. That stunted her development and left her on a par with Jenny, five years her junior.
“Rachel, since she was a little behind, was basically my twin,” Hois said. “I always played with her. We did everything together, so it didn’t feel like she was five years older than me. She was slow, but when I was growing up she talked totally normal to me.”
In 2003, Rachel’s heart gave out at the doctor’s office. She was 16. Her death devastated Jenny, who was in fifth grade.
“People don’t really know how much it hurts me, “Hois said. “I tend to avoid the subject a lot with people, but I think about it a lot. She was my best friend, flat out. I did everything with her, so to lose someone like that, it’s not only losing your sister, it’s losing your best friend and it was hard.
“There are things in the house that always remind me of her. I’ll pick up a teddy bear and I’ll think, ‘We used to play zoo with this.’”
Hois and her family will never get over Rachel’s death, but they have made the best of it. Erin, 26, decided to become a doctor and is now in her second year of medical school at Midwestern University. Jenny, 17, learned to have compassion for others who are struggling with problems.
“We think of the positives because honestly she was the most amazing person ever,” Hois said. “I’m sure it sounds kind of cliché because a lot of people say that, but everything I know about her is so perfect. I can’t imagine anyone who is as nice as her. When I was little, if I was jealous that she got something I didn’t, she would immediately just give it to me. She shared everything with me. She was the most unselfish person. If I started to cry, she would be sad with me.
“She really cared about me, so to have someone like that, it kind of teaches you how to interact with other people, share their feelings and help them get through it. She’s a role model.”
The experience toughened Hois, who says she rarely cries now.
“I cried after [Rachel’s death], but very few times do I get that emotional. I’m probably one of the strongest people in my family,” she said. “But what it taught me was what to tell other people when they have a situation like that. I know how they feel and I can relate to them. And my friends and other people have told me that it really helps because they know that I know. You can really support them.”
Because of their age gap, Jenny never played sports with Erin, but Erin’s success was a blueprint for Jenny. Erin was also good at tennis, winning 121 matches over four years, a total that Jenny likely will surpass this year.
Hois finished 13th at the state meet as a freshman and improved to seventh last year, when she set the school record with 45 wins, losing to eventual champion Elizabeth Epstein of Francis Parker in the quarterfinals. Hois has a legitimate chance to become the first Mustang to win a state championship.
“She’s the best athlete I’ve ever coached and that’s saying a lot considering who we’ve had,” said Downers South coach Pete Freischlag, whose program has produced state medalists Christine Neuman, Michelle Radman, Christina Gogol and Katie Kargl.
“I would put her as one of the best athletes in the state in any sport as far as just her pure ability and athleticism. I can see her as an all-state first team athlete in any sport she plays.”
Hois, who is undefeated going into next weekend’s Hinsdale Central Sectional, said that athleticism comes from her parents Bill, a science teacher at Downers South, and Laura, a lawyer, who were college gymnasts.
“I can’t tell you how many matches I’ve won based solely on my speed,” Hois said. “It kind of sucks for other people because they try so hard and work on things and I pick it up a lot easier than they do. It’s so easy for me to get to the ball. You get one more ball over the net and they have one more ball to hit back and they might miss it.”
Hois, who has a 4.2 GPA, has received recruiting letters from more than 150 colleges, including Air Force and Army, which has offered to fly her to West Point next summer for a visit.
Wherever she plays, Hois will still gets hugs and kisses after her matches. Just months after Rachel died, Laura unexpectedly became pregnant at age 45. Son Reed, 4, is healthy and already learning tennis and gymnastics.
“We say this is Rachel’s gift from heaven,” said Bill, who last year climbed Mt. Rainier to help raise money for leukemia research. “[Reed’s birth] never would have happened if Rachel hadn’t passed away.”
While Jenny would like to have both Reed and Rachel around, she calls Reed a blessing. Sometimes he makes his sister laugh so hard she cries, but the only tears of those of joy.
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