By Melissa Stoltz
LSU Sports Information
LSU senior tennis players Camila Caliari and Marina Chiarelli both declare the 2004 Southeastern Conference Western Division Championship as the finest moment of their collegiate careers. They also share the fact that they traveled all the way from Brazil to be a part of the LSU women’s tennis team.
Caliari and Chiarelli have been playing tennis together since they were 10 years old. However, they attended different high schools in Brazil and had to face each other in many matches.
“We played a lot together,” Caliari said. “We would play and we would never know who was going to win. We were pretty much even. We played pretty much all the tournaments; semi-finals, finals, we would always be playing against each other.”
Caliari said that former LSU standout Ana Paula Mores had an impact on her decision to come to LSU. Mores, who played from 1997-2000, is one of only six Lady Tigers to earn All-America status.
“She’s actually from my city so she just talked to me about (head coach) Tony (Minnis) and LSU and I got very excited,” Caliari said.
Caliari and Chiarelli agree that the hardest part about going to school so far away from home is adjusting to the different culture and being away from family.
“It’s hard because of the different culture and because we are both really close to our families,” Chiarelli explained. “The beginning was very hard and still now it is very hard, but you just get used to it.”
Caliari also said that the different culture is hard to adjust to and added that she found balancing the class schedule and practice difficult.
“You have class and you have practice, and you don’t have your mom and you don’t have a ride so you always have to walk,” she commented. “So it’s pretty tough in the beginning, but once you get used to it, it gets pretty simple.”
They both agreed that playing tennis in college is more difficult than playing in high school.
“In juniors (high school) I think we have a lot of good and bad players, but here they are all on the same level so we have to be prepared all the time,” said Chiarelli.
Before coming to LSU, Caliari finished her high school career as one of the greatest tennis players in the history of her high school, Colegio Regina Mundi in Maringa, Brazil. She continued her success into college, tying for a team-high four wins in the SEC her freshman year and winning the Rice Tennis Invitational B bracket her sophomore year. She has excelled in academics as well, earning a spot on the SEC Academic Honor Roll her junior year.
Chiarelli has had her fare share of success as well. The Curitaba, Brazil, native had the most singles win of any Lady Tiger her freshman year with 20 and tied for the same honor her sophomore year with 26. She also had the team’s best doubles record with her partner Jessica Ferguson her sophomore year. That year she also earned regional recognition as winner of the Arthur Ashe Award for Sportsmanship and Leadership.
The duo of Caliari and Chiarelli became a mainstay at No. 3 doubles last season except in matches where the lineup was shaken up because of injury. They compiled the most wins of any tandem on the team with 15, including winning 11 of their 16 dual matches together.
Caliari said that she feels her role on the team as a senior is very important in guiding the underclassmen.
“I think it is important and actually a good thing is that we have four seniors now and we can pretty much show how to act and what college sports are like,” she explained. “When freshmen get here, they don’t really know how hard it is, but they have us to tell them that you better be ready or things are not going to work.”
Chiarelli and Caliari, like many seniors, are unsure of what they will do immediately after graduation in May. However, they both have plans to continue to be involved in tennis through coaching.
Caliari said she would like to coach at a serious level. “I want to practice hard so probably at the college level,” she said.
The Lady Tigers have participated in four pre-season tournaments including the Maryland Invitational, the Hoosier Classic, the ITA Southwest Regional Championships, and the SEC Coaches Classic. Chiarelli started off strong capturing a singles title in the Maryland Invitational.
The team has one more tournament in January before kicking off its regular season. Caliari hopes these individual efforts will help the team be ready for that tough competition.
“This semester is not really our season yet, but we have played a couple of tournaments and I think as a team if you combine everything together we have a great potential to be good,” she said. “We have good girls and everyone has been working hard. The only thing I want to make sure everyone does right is desire. I think that is going to be the key. If everybody comes out and really wants to get something out of this I think we will be good.”
Their 2006 season begins Jan. 21 against Nicholls State, where they will begin team competition with their eyes set on winning the SEC.