STARKVILLE – By the time Alessia Tagliente joined the Mississippi State women’s tennis team in January, the Bulldogs had already experienced a full fall together.
In fact, Tagliente only had five days to practice with her new teammates before making her collegiate debut in the dual match opener against Jacksonville State.
“Anytime you add somebody in January it’s always a very interesting proposition,” said MSU associate head coach Sachin Kirtane. “Right from the start though, we could tell that she’s a great kid. Everybody on the team liked her.”
Not only did Tagliente win her first singles match, she started her career off 5-0. That sizzling start out of the gate gave the freshman from Turin, Italy plenty of confidence in her introduction to college tennis.
“It was unexpected,” Tagliente said. “I just played my tennis and tried to do my best. I just try to enjoy every single match on the court. I was very nervous my first match, but after that my confidence got even better.”
Tagliente went on to win 14 matches overall during her freshman campaign, including her first Southeastern Conference victory against LSU’s Rania Azziz. She also made some adjustments and improvements to her tennis game along the way as well.
“I think that I’ve improved my serve,” Tagliente said. “I worked with Daryl (Greenan) and ‘Shaq’ with my serve and it’s getting better. I have a lot of things to improve for sure, but I’m trying to work on my personality when I play. Sometimes I need to be stronger and I’m working on that.”
The future is certainly bright for Tagliente. She posted a 6-2 singles record against Southern Region opponents and was 7-3 at home this year.
“We’re excited about her,” Kirtane said. “I think she showed right away that she can compete at a really high level. She had a couple of losses to start the SEC season and that set her back some. But once she has a full fall under her and understanding the SEC and college tennis a little better is going to go a long way in her helping us.”
Two of the things that impressed the coaching staff the most about Tagliente was her attitude and work ethic. The soft-spoken 20-year old goes about her business quietly and tries to make the most out of every practice and match.
“She’s been unbelievable,” Kirtane said. “She’s been a coach’s dream. If you ask her to do something, she implements…
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