When her moment came — perhaps a little sooner than originally anticipated — Aoife Loftus was ready.

On Oct. 24, the Rochester Mayo junior kept the large-school girls tennis state singles championship in the family, beating teammate Malea Diehn 6-1, 6-3 in the Class 3A finals. Her older sister Claire, who graduated in the spring, had won the two previous state championships in the state’s highest class.

Loftus went into the tournament as the No. 4 seed. But once play began, Loftus cranked her game up a level. She swept through three singles victories in the team competition, losing but a single game, helping the Spartans to their third consecutive team state championship.

She continued to play at an elevated level through the individual singles bracket. After sailing through the first two rounds, Loftus battled past No. 1-seed Cassandra Li of Eagan in three sets, winning 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. She rode that momentum through the championship match, reversing a loss to Diehn in the section finals.

A complete 180 from the result of less than two weeks earlier, as well as a reset of the pecking order from the regular season for close friends.

Why? Simple, according to Loftus.

“I like tennis. It’s what I love to do,” she said.

Loftus got hooked on tennis when she was 4 and followed Claire to a tennis day camp. She joined a group taking private lessons shortly after and started playing in local tournaments when she was 8. She hasn’t stopped yet.

“I don’t really take a break,” she said. Loftus tried other sports like soccer, but none quite reeled her in like tennis.

“I like that it’s pretty much an individual sport,” she said. “If something goes wrong, you have to fix it yourself. There’s no relying on anyone else.”

Aoife plays with an almost religious fervor. When she’s not in school, you can most likely find her on the tennis court.

“Last year, I figured out that she played 135 USTA matches, singles and doubles, from January 1 until the start of the high school season,” Mayo coach Jeff Demaray said. “She puts in the work.”

Loftus’ time on the court, she said, is special because it allows her to focus solely on the task at hand. When she is playing tennis, whether she is winning or losing, she is completely in the moment.

“Tennis is motivating,” she said. ‘I like playing people better than me, people I’m supposed to lose to.”