From Italy to TAMUK
Four years at the same university can feel like forever, but being from out of the country and living an entire ocean away may feel like a lifetime. Senior Javelina tennis player Manuela Turolo is from Cividale del Friuli, Italy.
Growing up, Turolo fell in love watching Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nedal, but the true reason she fell in love with the sport was her father Paolo Turolo. He was a fan of the sport playing and watching. At the early age of eight, Turolo found her lifelong love in tennis.
Since her start, Turolo has placed first within her region four times growing up. In her 2021 season it featured a Serie C Championship for her squad, and a second-place group finish in the Serie B2 before coming to TAMUK.
One thing that brought her to Kingsville is the weather.
“It was definitely the idea of the hot weather. I really love playing in the hot weather and I was precisely looking for it. I’ve also been very interested in Texas, so I was very excited to move to a different country than mine. I also looked up the pictures of campus and courts in the beginning and everything looked very nice,” Turolo said.
Turolo wasn’t the outgoing and lively individual she is now when she joined the team.
“She was a bit scared to cheer,” said Head Tennis Coach Autumn Wollenzien. “She was the only freshman her first year, and so she didn’t really have anybody else that she could be a freshman with and do freshman things with. So, she’s also an only child, and she kind of went through her only child coping mechanism.”
Turolo has broken out of her quiet stage, becoming one of the most energetic and outspoken players on the team. It reflects in the way fellow teammate and doubles partner Guadalupe Tocci speaks of her.
“She’s more than just a teammate,” Tocci said. “She’s a great leader rather than just a teammate. She’s really helped all of us from upper-to-lower classmen. She just helps us with everything on and off the court. She’s always the first one when we need something, and she is always finding ways to help you with anything you need.”
Another way she has found a way to lead is by her approach to every match. “She’s intense,” Wollenzien said. “She goes in between, like, she knows when to be fun and when to be serious. And it’s appreciated because you have a balance of both. This is a game we play and you still have to have fun doing it. But then she knows when to get down to business.”
She spent the last four years proudly wearing the Javelina blue and gold, and the last near decade and a half playing the sport she loves the most.
“I definitely know that tennis will always be the love of my life, and I will never give it up. I’m very excited for the opportunity that I got to play college here, and I’m sure tennis could always be there, maybe coaching, maybe with something else, but I’m sure it will always be in my life,” Turolo said.
