Meet Zoë

My name is Zoë Rose Spence and I am the first African-American scholarship women’s tennis player at the University of Notre Dame. I joined Northwestern University as a graduate student-athlete. I created and launched Fresh Suspence as a way to showcase the everyday life experiences of collegiate student-athletes. I want to provide a space for student-athletes to communicate and to support and encourage one another. It is also a great way to help others learn the ‘ins and outs’ of being a collegiate student-athlete from athletes themselves! Together our insights can support and inspire!

Conversations & Interviews

I chat with Caroline Pineda from Shamrock Sports (NDtv: Notre Dame Television) to talk about Fresh Suspence.

I speak with veteran sports anchor Jim Rose of ABC7 News about my senior collegiate spring season and my experiences as Notre Dame’s first African American scholarship tennis player

I talk about the decision to launch FreshSuspence and the responsibility of being the first African American to play for Notre Dame women’s tennis

I talk about leading the ND Tennis Team, preparing for the NCAA tournament, and life as a Division 1 collegiate student-athlete.

ACC HONORS

50 STUDENT-ATHLETES

“It’s wonderful to be acknowledged by the ACC and an honor to be among its best and brightest”

Zoë Rose Spence

• Notre Dame’s First African-American Women’s Scholarship Tennis Player

• Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team

• ITA Scholar Athlete

• ITA Midwest Rookie of the Year

• All-ACC Academic Team 

• Notre Dame Dean’s List

• ACC Postgraduate Scholarship Award Winner

• Byron V. Kanaley Award

• ITA All-American Tournament

• Notre Dame Monogram Team MVP

• Notre Dame Rosenthal Leadership Academy

• Notre Dame Student-Athlete Advisory Council

• United States Tennis Association Two-Time National Champion

• Nike Junior Tour Player

• Founder, The MASAZI-Babolat® Junior Tournament (Ghana, West Africa)