Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

When Jessica Moonjely heard that spring sports were being cancelled in Iowa due to concerns of the global coronavirus pandemic her thoughts immediately turned to everything she would miss during her senior season.

Among the first things that came to the mind of the West High tennis standout was senior night.

“When I found out the season was going to be cancelled one of the first things I thought about was senior night,” Moonjely said. “I knew right away we weren’t going to have that.”

While Moonjely may not have gotten a final season of prep tennis her coaches and teammates made sure the lone senior on the West High roster got the memorable senior night celebration she always wanted.  

The senior night ceremony for Moonjely was originally set to coincide with the May 5 match against Cedar Rapids Xavier but instead turned into an online Zoom meeting with teammates and West High head coach Amie Villarini.

“It was really sweet, everyone took turns saying favorite memories and they had a video message with Craig (Huegel) our athletic director and past teammates and I was not expecting that at all so it kind of took me by surprise a little bit,” Moonjely said. “When it did happen I was overcome with emotion because it was a very thoughtful what they did.”

The real senior night surprise was still coming.

Villarini had connections with a fire truck. Teammates piled into cars and soon a parade formed outside of Moonjely’s residence.

When Moonjely heard of the parade plan from her parents she imagined her coach in a car.

It was much more than that.

“I was expecting to go outside and be Amie in a car honking but they have a full firetruck outside my house and my neighbors were coming outside and I was just shocked, it was crazy,” Moonjely said. “We were of course six feet apart but it was a time I felt so close to them. It was amazing what they did.”

Any way that West High chose to recognize Moonjely there was plenty to be celebrated for one of the most successful players in program history.

A two-time state medalist, earning medals in both singles and doubles, Moonjely closed her career with a 107-9 combined record in singles and doubles play.

“I rarely had to coach her, she knew what to do and she had the internal will and desire,” Villarini said. “She refused to lose. She had that mentality.”

West High reached the Class 2A state semifinals in each of the last three seasons with Moonjely in the lineup winning a state title in 2018 and finishing runner-up last season.

Moonjely played a central role in the 2018 title run winning both her singles and doubles matches in a 5-4 win over Ames in the state title match.

The memory of the 2018 for many is Moonjely and teammate Vivian Mitchell winning an epic 152-shot rally to clinch a doubles win to secure the state title.

“She never gave up and she just has this mental toughness where she would never say die,” Villarini said. “It really was shown in that 152-rally point to win state. That was her it was never say die.”

For Villarini the true testament of Moonjely’s attitude came hours earlier in her singles match.

Moonjely lost the first six points of the 10-point tiebreaker with Lauren Couves of Ames and trailed 1-7 in the tiebreaker at number three singles before rattling off nine consecutive points to secure a 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 win.

“I remember parents yelling, I think it was the Kochs, just saying ‘ome on Jess we need you Jess’,” Moonjely said. “I won one point and then two points and I think after I won three points in a row I could see my opponent start to crumble a little bit and I think that is what really changed the momentum for me.”

Moonjely had hoped to add to her career title count this spring.

With four of its top six players from last season’s runner-up team returning West High figured to be in the team title mix again.

Moonjely, who finished eighth at the state meet as a singles player in 2018, also planned to make a push for a state doubles crown after finishing runner-up last season with Audrey Koch.

“I had never really played doubles all that much but playing doubles with Audrey really got me excited about that new aspect,” Moonjely said. “Having someone on the court to share the high and low moments with you is something really special, I really grew to love doubles as much as singles so that was something I was really looking forward to this season was one more go at doubles.”

Moonjely leaves West High with a state title, two individual medals and more than 100 wins but it is what she provided away from the court that Villarini will miss most about the senior.

“The thing I am going to miss most about her is her positive attitude and personality,” Villarini said. “She always had a smile on her face and it was addicting and contagious.”

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