Ava Ignatowich is one of the very few UPA Tour pros with first-hand experience in the collegiate and professional pickleball ranks alike.

She's a member of the club pickleball team at the University of Miami, and turned pro in 2024 while pursuing her undergraduate degree in South Florida.

Needless to say, she noticed some major differences in the style of play at both levels.

“There’s a lot less stacking in college and the points don’t go quite as long,” explained Ignatowich. “It’s a drastic shift when I have to go between playing them.”

At the Lapiplasty Pickleball World Championships this past fall, she competed in the pro main draw while simultaneously participating in the DUPR Collegiate National Championships with the Hurricanes.

“I really have to change gears when I play both. With the pros, I have to play at a much faster pace, so it can be difficult alternating between the two different levels,” shared Ignatowich. “There are some pretty great players in college pickleball, but there’s also a lot of beginners. That’s what makes it fun, though.” 

Given her pro status, it's highly likely that her fellow Hurricanes are paying close attention to her every move on the court.

She has embraced the mentorship role that comes with that.

“I do the best that I can. If my teammates have tactical or strategic questions, I do my best to help them and work with them because everyone wants to get better. They do look to me as more of a coaching role. It’s been really good for me to learn how to take a leadership role,” noted Ignatowich. “I’ve honestly never had a situation in my life where I’ve been forced to be the leader, and it’s funny because I have the least strong personality on the team. But, we make it work.” 

As someone who successfully made the jump to the pros, Ignatowich has good advice for college players with similar pickleball aspirations.

“Just start. Just sign up for qualifiers and see how you do. Results are a good indicator of where you’re at in your pickleball journey, and results are a reflection of how hard you’ve been working in practice. Keep drilling, watch a lot of pro pickleball, try to adopt the habits you see the pros have, and give it your all,” she advised.

“Sometimes, you just have to take the leap and jump in with the sharks and go for it. That’s what I did. And I think I went 0-16 for my first eight tournaments. I didn’t win a match. I doubted if I could even do it. And then I kept going, and now I have some wins under my belt and I’m improving,” she added. 

As Ignatowich wraps up her final semester, she remains incredibly optimistic about pickleball’s development at the collegiate level.

“College pickleball is so awesome, and it’s getting bigger every year. It’s growing so much, and every year there’s more players, more teams, more funding. DUPR is just doing such a great job of creating it so that we can actually win scholarship money through DUPR,” she praised. “Right now, pickleball isn't an NCAA Division I sport, so there aren't really any opportunities to get scholarship money from schools for pickleball clubs and teams. DUPR is really paving the way for college pickleball to become more competitive at the collegiate level because there’s money involved, people want to win, they want to get better, and they want the sport to grow. I hope to see it become a Division I sport in the future.”

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