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College Commitment
Spring Signing Week '08: Demos Heading to Drake
by Ali Jones, 11 April 2008

Gabriela Demos was two games from losing the semis of the Missouri Class 2 Individual Championships to five-star recruit Michelle Kedzierski, who was defending champion.

Demos had played a three-and-a-half hour match the previous day. The wind bothered her. She was tired and frustrated.

But she couldn't just quit. Having watched the victory of the underdog in her favorite movie, Remember the Titans, Demos gathered up all she had in reserve. Down 0-4 in the third, she pulled off a stunning 6-7, 6-1, 7-6 win over Kedzierski.

Riding high on that semi victory, she coasted in the finals to become Rockwood School District's first singles champion.

Lafayette Senior High Coach Donna Stauffer said of Demos' win that she had never seen so much heart and determination in a player. It was one of the best high school matches, she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.