Lina was born and raised in Kaunas, Lithuania. She started playing tennis at 8 years old, represented the Lithuanian junior tennis team at European Championships in every age category as well as the Women’s National Tennis team at Fed Cup in 2011.
Lina was a full scholarship athlete at the University of Texas at Austin, where she was named the Big XII Freshman of the Year, led their team to two Big XII Conference titles and received her undergraduate degree in Exercise Science with highest honors. She was able to secure the Big XII and NCAA Postgraduate scholarships and pursued her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at Texas State University.
Lina has always been passionate about teaching others and tutored students in subjects of kinesiology, anatomy, biology and math during her college years. After working for a couple years as a physical therapist helping people maximize their healing potential after sports injuries, Lina and her husband Josh were blessed with their first son Ąžuolas in September of 2020.
During the onset of COVID and early in her pregnancy she began playing pickleball with her friends and began competing in it in April of 2021. She won Midsouth Regionals in women’s singles and doubles at a 5.0 level 19+ age category, which qualified her for USA Pickleball Nationals in December of 2021.
She became a National Champion in women’s singles at 5.0 level and got silver in women’s doubles. Lina has secured several 5.0 gold medals last year and plans to move up to the next step, which is professional pickleball. She has multiple pro tournaments lined up on her schedule for 2022 and will continue training for them in Austin, Texas. She is also currently a head tennis coach at St. Michael’s catholic academy.
