Erin Bonney ended her high school career as one of the more decorated tennis players at Nansemond River High School, but now she focuses on a different path.

For the majority of her time at Nansemond River, Bonney was the No. 1 singles player and half of the No. 1 doubles team at the school. Last season, she was a part of the most successful team in girls’ tennis history.

After having such a decorated career with more than 40 wins and several singles conference titles, it is hard not to envision what Bonney could do at the college level. After graduating earlier this month, Bonney will pursue a nursing degree at Sentara College of Health and Sciences.

Bonney never received a significant amount of interest to play in college because of the career she was pursuing. She never really put herself out there to be heavily recruited. She has plans to be a nurse, so tennis was something she had to sacrifice to put her time and energy into her dream.

“I did not receive much interest really,” she said. “I was not going to play in college because I wanted to go to nursing school. It was a tough decision. I didn’t really put myself out there, because I knew what I wanted to do for my future.”

Bonney has wanted to be a nurse since middle school. Her decision ultimately came down to going off somewhere to play tennis or staying at home to do a hospital-based program. While Bonney loves tennis and always will, she also knows how rigorous nursing programs are. Ultimately, devoting the time she’d like to tennis was going to be tough.

“I always want to give 100 percent to whatever I am pursuing,” she said.

This season, Bonney was a huge component to Nansemond River advancing to its second consecutive 5A state tournament appearance. The team was also the 5A South runner-up the last two seasons. Also, this year the team won its fourth consecutive conference title. Bonney was a regional qualifier in 2015, 2016 and 2017.