April 13, 2009

By Media Relations Student-Assistant Michael Montgomery

Even though senior Jessica Giuggioli still has one year of school left to finish her Spanish major, she already knows what she would like to do after she graduates.  Giuggioli said she wants to be a graduate assistant tennis coach. She explains simply, “Because I can't quit tennis, there's no way, I just can't. I need to remain in it somehow.”

That's certainly understandable, seeing how tennis has been a huge part of Giuggioli's life since age 10 when she began playing in Milan, Italy, where she grew up.

Soon she started playing in tournaments, first throughout Italy, and then all over Europe.  When she was 12 years old, Giuggioli began to spend her summers in the United States playing in tennis tournaments simply because there was more tennis to be played in America.

Then, after her sophomore year of high school, Giuggioli decided to make a more permanent visit to the United States, as she moved to Hilton Head, S.C. to attend the Van der Meer Tennis Academy. For Giuggioli the decision wasn't tough because the U.S. was the only place she could continue to pursue her tennis career and education simultaneously.

“This was the only place where I could've actually played a lot of tennis, so that's why I really wanted to stay here.”  Giuggioli said.

After spending two years as one of the Van der Meer Academy's top junior players, Giuggioli went on to play for the University of Kentucky, where she realized that her time at the academy helped her to deal with the problems that many of her peers don't face until they're college freshmen.

“I feel like when I came to college a lot of the kids here are going through a lot, but I had already gone through all of that before.”  Giuggioli said.  “So once I really started college it was all fine with me.”

Giuggioli was named All-SEC as a freshman and helped the Wildcats earn two NCAA tournament appearances before announcing she would transfer after her sophomore season.

Giuggioli drew interest from numerous schools, but chose Missouri as it all just “felt right.”

“When I visited here I really liked the school,” Giuggioli said. “I thought it was really pretty, and I liked all the girls and the coach too.”

Seeing a familiar face in Sofia Ayala during her visit also helped.  Ayala, like Giuggioli, grew up in a foreign country (Ecuador) and was transferring from an SEC school (Alabama) following her sophomore year.  Both girls chose Missouri, and are the only two seniors on this young Tiger squad.

“When I came on my visit here, the fact that she was here definitely helped me.”  Giuggioli said.  “It was definitely easier at first to just relate with her because we have a lot in common and we knew each other before.”

Another reason Giuggioli chose Missouri was the opportunity to play at the top of their line-up, whereas she played at the bottom of the Kentucky line-up.

“Playing at the top of the line-up is definitely more of a challenge and that's kind of one of the reasons why I decided to transfer.”  Giuggioli said.  “My freshman year at Kentucky I had a really good year, didn't lose many matches at all and I felt like I wanted to play higher so that I could challenge myself more.”

Giuggioli has found that facing the opposing team's best players is definitely a challenge, but one that fuels her competitive side.

“Its definitely tough.”  Giuggioli said.  “You know you're playing against the best people and personally, I love it.  If I would ever have to pick I would rather lose and play against a really tough person then win the match really easily by having my opponent not be so great.”

That competitive fire extends not only to her matches, but also to the entire team, as Giuggioli says that her favorite moment as a Tiger came last season in a victory at home over arch-rival and then 55th-ranked Kansas.

Giuggioli, playing in the No. 2 singles match, defeated KU's Elizaveta Avdeeva in the second-to-last match of the day to set up freshman Kaitlyn Ritchie's clinching match-win over Stephanie Smith.

But Giuggioli still has time to make some more winning memories both on the court and the sidelines as she finishes her senior campaign and looks to pursue her coaching career.