At first glance, she's your typical 18-year-old freshman, but it doesn't take long to realize that Jennifer Justine Larson--who goes by the nickname of J.J.--isn't typical. Larsen plays tennis for the Hokies, and she plays it very well.

She also plays it with only one arm.

"She's a unique case," Tech women's tennis coach Terry Ann Zawacki-Woods says. "To play at the level she does is unique and inspiring."

Larson was born without a left arm, and doctors never determined why. Yet, perhaps blessed with the innocence of youth, Larson--who received her first prosthesis at three months--grew up living life the way other kids did.

"I don't think much about [the prosthesis]," Larson says. "But I never used it as an excuse not to do something. I was a normal person growing up. I got into my fair share of trouble. The only difference is I didn't have an arm."

Her parents' healthy attitude about her artificial limb seems to have contributed to her own. Larson's father, determined to make sure his daughter lived life to the fullest, put a tennis racket in her right hand when she was nine and simply told her to start swinging. At the time, the gesture seemed awkward. But the moment turned out to be life altering for Larson, who fell in love with the sport.

Gradually, she figured out how to serve by putting the tennis ball between the thumb and forefinger of her prosthesis and tossing the ball in the air. Over time, she perfected the move.

Then her attention turned to her backhand. "It's hard to have a one-handed backhand," she admits. But she knew she needed to master it to be competitive since opponents will take advantage of a weakness. As with the serve, she mastered the backhand.

Early during her high school years in Orchard Park, N.Y., Larson began earning a reputation for her game. She gradually worked her way into the top 10 of the Eastern Section (a regional division), and by the end of her senior season, college coaches started taking notice.