AVRIL KING
Social Media Manager
It was a great day for softball. Taylor Marelli, then a senior in high school, was in the outfield. It was a normal March day.
Turning and running to retrieve a ball, Marelli heard a telltale pop in her knee and fell to the ground.
“I just kind of got up and started walking off the field,” said Marelli. “My coach was like, ‘what are you doing?’ and I was like, ‘I’m done. I think I’m good for the day.”
Soon after, she found out that she had torn her ACL.
She found herself having reconstructive surgery and having part of her hamstring relocated to her knee.
This was only a few weeks after she had committed herself to Fredonia and the women’s tennis team.
“After I got hurt, I emailed Coach Catalano to tell him that I couldn’t play, that it wasn’t going to happen. And he was like, ‘oh, come anyway.’ So, here I am and I’m glad that I came,” said Marelli.
Even though she could no longer contribute to the team physically, Coach Gregory Catalano made a place for her. Since the end of August when the tennis team began their preseason training, Marelli has been serving as the team’s first manager.
And not being able to play has not affected her relationship with the team at all.
“One of the first things that she said to us was, ‘I tore my ACL, but I still want to be a part of the team atmosphere,’ and we welcomed her,” said Olivia Miller, a junior ranked at second singles.
Plus, her teammates respect the difficulty that she is facing as she sits out her first college tennis season.
“It’s hard to be a manager when you can’t play, but she has taken it in stride,” said junior Mallory Mecca, a third-year doubles player.
Not to mention, Coach Catalano appreciates her work as manager.
“She keeps me abreast of everything that’s going on; she’s an excellent manager,” he said. “I thought she would only show up for a couple of days, but every single day, she’s there; it’s just amazing. Most managers aren’t like she is.”
As someone who started playing tennis when she was 8 years old, Marelli was greatly looking forward to her first college-level season.
She began playing at the request of a friend who simply needed a hitting partner. Honing her skills since then, she grew serious about the sport starting in high school.
Not only did she play first singles at her school back in Long Island, but she also worked at the Westhampton Beach Tennis and Sport club as a hitter.
It was there that she met her biggest role model in tennis, Coach Bobby Lum.
“He was my boss, but he wanted me to be better so that he could give me more responsibilities as a tennis pro and hitter,” said Marelli. “So, he would give me free lessons, and if he ever saw something that could use fixing, he would help me out.”
Even though she will be sitting on the sidelines for the next few months as she recovers, Marelli still finds a way to have a good time with the team.
“It can be very boring and very tedious, like, ‘do I have to go to practice?’ But then I get there and I see everyone and we joke around,” said Marelli. “And I have fun taking Anina [Vancheri] and Olivia [MacWilliams] to the side and working with them separately.”
Her teammates appreciate her as a source of positivity.
“She has to sit out the whole season and watch us play the sport that she loves, but she still does it with a smile on her face,” said Miller.
Even Marelli’s friends outside of tennis agree that she is a positive and friendly person. And as someone who is a part of Fredonia’s pre-med program, she is also very driven.
“I don’t know anyone else who is as motivated as her,” said Emilee Stenson, a freshman music industry major. “She studies all the time.”
Come December, Marelli will be cleared to participate in sports again. This means she will be able to participate in the Fall 2018 tennis season. And Catalano has high expectations for her.
“From what I’ve seen, she’s a pretty good tennis player, and if her knee holds up, I can see big things coming from her next year,” he said.
Marelli, though, is satisfied with simply being able to play.
“I’m just going to go for it, really. That’s kind of my mentality in life; just go for it and see what happens,” she said.
There is no doubt about her being ready to play again. More than once, Catalano has had to tell her to put down a tennis racket during practice.
She is greatly looking forward to the day that he does not have to.