They call her “Q,” just like the character from the James Bond series who was in charge of research and coming up with all those nifty gadgets to help 007 get out of his sticky situations.
Ironically, State College Area High School senior tennis standout Quiana Guo shares the fictional character’s aptitude for solving problems, both on and off the court.
“I love puzzles,” Guo said.
“Tennis is the first sport that I have played that really challenges me to think on my feet. Each opponent you play is a new puzzle and you have to find their weakness and use it against them in order to win.
“I think that my mentality during tennis matches has helped me use it in daily life. There is always a way to solve the puzzle, even if it takes a while to figure out.”
Too short at around 5 feet tall to thrive in basketball and volleyball, Guo has grown into a tennis giant. The definition of well-rounded as a player as well as a person, this daughter of Chinese immigrants has made her athletic career one to remember and her senior season the cherry on top of a flavorful cake.
“Each and every season has been such an amazing experience for me and has been unique in different ways. Up until my senior year, I always had someone older than me to look up to and guide me,” Guo said.
“It wasn’t really until my senior year when I realized that the older girls, especially captains, bore heavier burdens: They had to balance school, college applications and on top of it all, ensure the entire team functioned smoothly. All four years have given me more insight into leadership, teamwork and hard work.”
Heading into the District 6 Class 3A girls’ team tennis final match against Hollidaysburg, which State College won for its third straight district title, Guo had a 19-0 record this season.
Last month, she won her second straight district singles titles, matching the number of D6 doubles championships she won with Catelyn Janac as a freshman and sophomore.
In her singles career and district and state doubles, Guo is 63-13. She’s only been defeated twice since completing her junior year, which isn’t bad for someone who just got into the game in sixth grade when a friend asked her to accompany them to a clinic. Guo set a goal of returning 25-50 balls in a row.
Lady Little Lion varsity coach Jane Borden immediately realized Guo’s potential.
“I saw Q at the courts I work at almost daily. She was there for hours playing and hitting with friends and family. She wasn’t afraid of hard work, and her dedication to practice was very evident,” Borden said.
“Q is wonderful to coach. She’s a happy young lady and she really enjoys the game. Her teammates look up to her and respect her. She leads by example and she’s also incredibly talented in the classroom. Q is the epitome of the word ‘student-athlete.’
“Q’s greatest attributes are poise, moxie, work ethic and knowledge of the game. On court, Q is unflappable. She stays focused and works for every point and, when things don’t go her way, she works even harder. She is able to build points, and she sees strengths and weaknesses of her opponents rather quickly. She’s then able to make adjustments in order to have success.”
That seems a good representation of Guo’s larger character. She loves sports — she played basketball, volleyball and soccer; skated; did gymnastics; and practiced dance growing up — but she never measured their value in wins and losses alone.
It’s more about learning, growing and responding in the face of the obstacles placed before her. It’s about appreciating what one has done without being satisfied, and then going out looking for higher goals.
“Each tennis match is a new challenge and, because I have played so many matches, I’ve been challenged a lot, giving me practice so I know how to better apply problem-solving skills in daily life,” Guo said.
“Other times, you do have to accept that the other person across the net has put in more work and is just better, and that’s when you see that there’s still room for you to grow. So it’s back to practice and putting in the work. These lessons are applicable across everything I do.”
Perhaps that’s something Guo inherited from her parents. Liping Yi and Yuanqing Guo came to the United States from small, poor villages in the Jiangxi province in southeast China looking for better opportunities in life. Quiana Guo was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, but the family moved to State College when she was in first grade when her father got a job at Penn State.
Guo lists her mother on a list of people like Zendaya, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Naomi Osaka, Roger Federer and Carlos Alcaraz who she most admires, not for their talent, but for things like their humility and perseverance.
“My mom has endured much prejudice in her life from her parents, and the fact she was able to overcome it and come to the U.S. and live such a better life is amazing,” Guo said.
Guo herself has a pretty amazing list of accomplishments for someone so young. In addition to her tennis success, she’s part of a science-heavy curriculum in school, where she’s co-president of Science Olympiad and the math club in addition to running the peer tutoring center. She plays the violin; she’s currently playing a concerto by Samuel Barber.
Her vast array of other interests limited her chances to play offseason tennis tournaments, which probably limited her shot to be recruited. Instead, she’ll head to college primarily focused on academics directed toward becoming a teaching physician.
“It sounds cliche to say helping people is gratifying, but it is,” Guo said.
“Throughout school, I have always loved to help others understand complex ideas. Even now, I enjoy tutoring mainly because students’ minds are puzzles, too. It can be challenging to figure out exactly how you have to explain the concept for them to understand what you’re trying to say.
“Once they do, you see their eyes light up and realize how cool the concept is.”
Guo plans to keep playing tennis recreationally or as a club sport. She still has a chance to make another splash in high school when she plays in the PIAA singles in Hershey next month.
“My hopes for states are to reach however far I can,” Guo said. “Last year I lost the first round, so I’m hoping to win the first round, but I also know that girls from Pittsburgh have greater access to a higher level of tennis, so I won’t regret anything if I do lose the first round. I know that I did everything I could to get where I am.”
This story appears in the Oct. 20-26, 2022 edition of The Centre County Gazette.
