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Tennis Alumni Share 20 Years of Friendship that Began at Tech
Eight former members of the Tennessee Tech women’s tennis team, who now live spread out all over the world, have remained friends since their time at Tech 20 years ago. The secret to staying in touch, they said, is simple.
“It all comes down to a bit of effort.”
Thanks to video conferencing, messaging apps, cross-country road trips and the occasional international flight, these eight alumni have managed to keep in touch for two decades, despite living thousands of miles from one another.
The group includes Melissa Cansado of South Africa; Marina (Tasheva) Strand of Sweeden; Maja (Russinova) Ballard of Nashville, Tn.; Maia (Semerdjieva) Mascall of Scotland; Evgenia (Yartseva) Zarco of New Jersey, Kay (Ngiam) Paradiso of Virginia; Alet (Boonzaaier) Filmalter of Florida; and Margot Carter of Nashville.
After graduating from Tech, Filmalter played professional tennis for the Women’s Tennis Association and was ranked internally with the Association of Tennis Professionals. She was even invited to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Carter competed on a professional tennis tour and was ranked 451 in the world. She has coached all over the world, including a period of time where she returned to her alma mater and served as an assistant coach for Tech. Today, she owns a tennis club in Nashville called Spherical Yellow.
These former Golden Eagles credit their Tech degrees and experiences on the tennis team for much of their career success.
“I get a lot of respect from being a student-athlete, because most people know what discipline goes into being a student-athlete,” said Filmalter. “Running around the track in 30-degree weather first thing in the morning was brutal. But I’d do it all over again.”
Paradiso added, “Tennis is such an individual sport. I remember these girls sat me down and said, ‘You’re part of a team. You need to figure out how to work with us. We are all supporting you.’ I think that’s really held true to any environment I’ve been in since then, whether it’s being a part of a family, being in a workplace or working with others.”
These former Golden Eagles are planning reunions in New York City, Las Vegas and Paris – to attend the French Open, of course. And five of them reunited in Cookeville for homecoming in 2021.
“Being an athlete and being with all of these girls has been the best experience of my life,” said Strand. “We learn from each other and we learn about our cultures.”
Paradiso added, “We are still a team.”
