COLIN HART
Special to The Leader
Women’s tennis player Anna Chiacchia has been absolutely shredding her SUNYAC competition. Chiacchia’s 8-1 record speaks for itself. Her last three singles match scores read as a blitzkrieg of dominant victories: 6-0, 6-0, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
The amazing thing? She’s only a freshman.
While she may be a “rookie” in terms of collegiate experience, she definitely doesn’t play like one. Anna has the poise and confidence of a well-tested veteran. She’s not a person who is easily rattled — very head strong, you could say.
Her best attributes, in terms of tennis, are undoubtedly her hustle play and her in-game intelligence.
“She has the ability to spot her opponent’s weakness and attack it. She adjusts to her opponents when need be but without letting them change her game,” said senior teammate Phoebe Langdon. “ She just always stays calm out there, and even when she’s down, she’s ready to fight back. I’ve never seen her give up on a point.”
Head coach Greg Catalano shared a similar sentiment.
“She goes after any ball. She’s got great, great hustle and a strong work ethic,” said Catalano.
Catalano describes a particularly memorable sequence during a match where an opponent pinned her deep in the corner. Chiacchia ran and returned it, but her opponent, with good positioning, managed to finesse a well-placed drop shot. At this point, it seemed that the point had been won, but Anna showed her tremendous hustle by making a full-out diving return. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, she bounced right back up and returned her opponent’s next shot behind her head.
Her opponent, and the opposing coach, stood on the other side of the net in disbelief. Things like that just don’t happen every day, but these amazing eye-opening hustle plays are becoming the norm for the freshman phenom.
Chiacchia’s tremendous play hasn’t gone unnoticed. She was named SUNYAC Player of the Week earlier in September during a dominant stretch that saw her open up her collegiate career an undefeated 5-0 in singles matches.
Sometimes, though, with great success comes an even greater ego. Chiacchia is not that type of person at all. Her ability to be humble is matched only by her skills on the tennis court.
“You’d never guess she’d won that award,” said Catalano. “ She just goes out there and plays and does her thing.”
Not only that, but she is also a great teammate.
“In the locker room, she has such a great energy and always encourages her teammates,” said Langdon. “She’s such a genuine teammate, and you can tell she wants us all to succeed both on and off the court.”
Anna went to Hamburg High School and starred in varsity tennis for two years. She’s been playing since she was five, but it was never her original passion. That honor has always belonged to basketball. She’s enjoyed as much success on the hardwood as she has on the tennis court, averaging over 20 points per game in her senior year at Hamburg.
In fact, Chiacchia originally was looking to go to a bigger college to continue her basketball career. But after advice from her high school tennis coach and longtime mentor Joe Tretter, she chose to go to Fredonia to be a two-sport athlete and continue her tennis career along with basketball.
“It was very fortunate for Fredonia,” said Catalano.
Coming into this season, Chiacchia didn’t really know what to expect.
“With basketball I played some summer league with [Fredonia], but with tennis, I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” she says. “I was insanely nervous. But when I got there all the girls were super nice, and I ended up just fitting right in. It’s been great really. I’m just sad the season is so short.”
Just a little over a month and several dominant performances later, Anna has helped her team to a 7-2 record and the number two seed in the upcoming SUNYAC playoff tournament. The Blue Devils have not captured a win in Binghamton since 2012, but it looks like it’s shaping up to be their year.
“I’ve definitely been thinking about it,” Chiacchia says about the upcoming playoffs. “With it being my first time, I’m just going to go out there and play my best. I don’t want to set hopes like ‘I’m going to win everything.’ I just want to play my best and see what happens and hope the best for my teammates.”
On where she sees her future in tennis, Chiacchia remains humble.
“I just want to keep improving on my game. I’m realizing how much I love tennis and how into it I am. It’s weird now because I’ve always been a basketball person, but now it feels like I’m becoming more into tennis.”
Coach Catalano sees something more.
“I can see her becoming our number one singles player and quite possibly the best tennis player Fredonia has ever produced.” That’s no small praise coming from a guy who has been around the sport for 30 years.
But Chiacchia knows she’s just not here to play sports. She truly defines the term “student-athlete.” A self-proclaimed nerd, she’s majoring in math with a minor in computer science, and although she doesn’t really know what she wants to be just yet, she remains very committed to her studies.
“It’s always been school and sports,” says Chiacchia. “I go to the preseason stuff I can for basketball, then I go to practice, then I’ll come back and study. On the weekends, I study a lot for everything. I’ve always been in the mindset of getting things done.”
Chiacchia is a shining example of what all student-athletes should aspire to. Her hard work ethic and constant striving for improvement are the things that coaches and teachers dream of, while her never-say-die mentality and humble ways are things that every teammate would love. With her competitive nature, the sky’s the limit. It’ll be interesting to see just how good she will eventually become.
The women’s tennis season winds down with two more matches next week before judgment day comes in the form of the SUNYAC playoff tournament in Binghamton, which starts Oct. 8. With the team sitting pretty as the number two seed and enjoying their greatest success yet, this certainly could be the year they finally break through.