When Del Norte’s Emma Shen was a sophomore, she wanted to play college tennis so badly that she didn’t participate in high school to focus on club and other activities.

She learned two things.

One, while she loved tennis, she realized the odds of her getting a college scholarship in the sport were not good, even with a 4.375 GPA.

Two, since she had a little extra time, she got involved in the Children Without Borders Academy run by Jess Macias and really liked gathering anything that had to do with sports to help children in Mexico who needed everything from tennis racquets to clothes to books.

So, last year she returned to the Del Norte tennis team and although she played singles most of the season, when the playoffs came, she was paired with Arushi Rai, an aggressive net player, and the two marched to the Palomar League title before rolling to the section finals where, seeded fourth, they finally were defeated by No. 1 Anna Pallencoe and Kate Prichard of Patrick Henry.

The reward? Del Norte was moved to the Coastal League with perennial powers Canyon Crest Academy and Torrey Pines, but when darkness fell at the league championships recently, there were Shen and her new partner, junior Olivia Haffie, still battling for the title.

Rather than finishing another time, they were declared co-champs.

Then it was on to the section individual playoffs, which started Monday.

“Emma is the steady baseliner and Olivia likes to volley at the net, so they have opposite strengths that work well together,” said Nighthawks coach Cherise Meola. “Emma had to learn how to play doubles, but it fits since she’s a co-captain of the team.”

Shen has been playing since she was 10 years old when it became apparent her body was taking a beating in gymnastics.

“I loved gymnastics,” said Shen, 17, “I was committed weekends and weekdays. It just took so much of my time it was affecting my health. I was always sore and so skinny.”

She got introduced to tennis by playing video games and since she had a competitive spirit, she didn’t just decide to play, she decided she had to work just as hard as she did in gymnastics in the hopes of earning that college scholarship.

“Tennis is like an art form,” Shen said. “Every opponent is different, and it takes a lot of perseverance and grit to succeed. You have to learn quickly every opponent’s strength and weakness. Then you had to get creative sometimes to beat them and that was so exhilarating.

“You push yourself on the court and you have to always be thinking.”

But her year away from high school tennis opened her eyes to the fact that there were just so many college tennis scholarships available and focusing on club play didn’t really produce the results she hoped for. She was more than happy to return to the high school game.

“Doubles is faster, and I talk to myself and my partner, saying not to worry when you lose a point,” said Shen, a senior. “You have to put it behind you and learn from it. You can’t get on yourself — just stay positive.

“Tennis and school are a lot alike. In school you have tests, lots of tests, and you have lots of tests in tennis. You just need to learn and be prepared. It helps to know when to be serious and when to kid around.”

Mind you, Shen is still planning on playing tennis in college, what with a 1,530 SAT score (out of 1600), she just says she’ll either play club or walk on, depending on the situation.

She said the year off from high school tennis also allowed her to expand her interests and meet Macias.

“I realized I had a lot of athletic equipment I never used and there were kids in Mexico who had nothing at all,” Shen said. “Pretty soon I was asking all my friends in school and in my community if they had extra equipment they weren’t using. That included clothing, toys, almost anything. You were helping a kid get an education.

“I went to events in Tijuana and La Salina, places that serve orphans and widows. Those were in-person outreach events where they had soccer, basketball, tennis — everything.”

For now, though, she’s hoping to duplicate or better last year’s section performance.

“You push yourself to see how far you can go by pushing for every point,” she said. “That’s what makes it fun, the challenge.”