Emma Whitfield has already accomplished something not many athletes have ever done in advancing to a state athletic meet three times.

The Lady Cat senior athlete still has goals to be reached on the tennis court and will make her third trip to Austin in as many years in search of a state championship. It would be the first for Whitfield and the first for Sherman tennis.

Whitfield's quest begins at 10:15 a.m. Monday on the Penick-Allison Tennis Center courts at the University of Texas against Wichita Falls Rider's Abbie Lewis. It will be her 50th match of the year after going 46-3 in 2008-09, and Whitfield won five of her seven tournaments in the spring, including events at Frisco Centennial and in Coppell, Corsicana, Ennis and Justin Northwest.

The winner gets right back into action in the 1:30 p.m. semifinals against either Montgomery's Bailey Van Dyke or Millie Nichols of Austin Lake Travis, who finished runner-up in 2008 after beating Whitfield 6-3, 6-0 in the state semifinals.

"It's the state tournament, so there's always going to be some nerves," Whitfield said. "I have a higher comfort level and am confident knowing I've been there before compared to someone who hasn't experienced it."

Whitfield will try to take the next step and advance to the 9 a.m. state final under coach Rodney Pilcher, who has been with her for all three of her productive seasons.

"Coach works so hard for the team and does everything he can to get us into good tournaments and seeded where we need to be," Whitfield said. "He was particularly helpful in putting us in the most competitive matches he could."

Whitfield didn't have much trouble advancing to regionals after a 6-3, 6-2 win against McKinney High's Kelsey Shea to win the district title after dropping only one game in her first two matches combined. She swept her first two matches at the Region II meet in Denton and advanced with a three-set win in the semifinals before losing 6-0, 6-4 to Highland Park's Charlotte Calhoun in the final.

Calhoun plays Corpus Christi Flour Bluff's Rachel Baldree in her first-round match where she will meet the winner between Rosenberg Lamar Consolidated's Chan Rutherford and Miranda D'Acosta of Wichita Falls Rider. A potential meeting in the finals could occur if Whitfield and Calhoun win their first two matches on the opposite side of the bracket.

"I'm definitely focused on my first match right now," Whitfield said. "It does help having played a girl before as far as helping you build up a strategy when you know the playing style and personality of your opponent."

Whitfield advanced to state in mixed doubles as a sophomore in 2007, where she teamed with Ryan Hill to advance to the semifinals before losing to eventual runners-up Allie Chermel and Dennis Roy of Frisco Centennial. She has certainly brought the Sherman program to new heights and made her first singles appearance at the state capital last season, defeating Carly Riney of Montgomery 6-1, 6-4 before her loss to Nichols.

It marks the fifth consecutive season in which a Sherman tennis player has advanced to the state tournament. Bentley Dye and Caroline Parker advanced in singles' play in 2005, Dye returned one year later while Whitfield began her string in 2007.

Her talents go way beyond the tennis court, as Whitfield is No. 1 in her senior class and has accepted a full scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania where she is considering walking on to the tennis team.

"Emma is such a special, well-rounded person, and those types of individuals don't come around very often," Pilcher said. "I've never had a player as dedicated and who works as hard as she does. It's every rewarding and exciting to see her accomplish the goals she sets out to achieve, because she's very driven."