Photo by: A.J. Olnes
Di Giulio Set for Future Success in Omaha
May 11, 2022 | Women's Tennis
The format of conference tennis championships at the Division I level does what it's intended to do as far as advancing a team to the next round. It does, however, often rob an individual of a chance to shine.
It happened to Alexia Di Giulio at the recent Summit League Championships in Omaha. The freshman was going point-for-point with Denver senior Taylor Melville at No. 2 singles in the semifinal round.
It was a matchup of All-Summit League performers. Di Giulio raced to a 4-1 lead before dropping the opening set 6-4. She bounced back to go up a break, 2-0, in the second set when the match was halted.
When Denver reached the needed four wins to advance, the rest of the matches were left unfinished. Di Giulio had the momentum in her match, yet didn't get the chance to vie for a big season-ending victory.
"I'm very confident in my game now," she said. "And I built a lot over the last couple of conference matches. Having a team that believes in me as much as I believe in them has been the biggest thing."
Di Giulio transferred to Omaha after redshirting at New Mexico State. She's thrilled that she did.
"It's better than I had hoped for," she said. "Coach [Adam] Summitt is an amazing coach, and I couldn't have asked for a better person to work under as I've moved to Omaha. The same thing with my team. I couldn't have asked for a greater team to move into. I'm really grateful for the family that I've built here in Omaha. They're the greatest group of girls I could've asked for, especially coming in as a transfer."
Di Giulio overcame illness and injury to climb up the Omaha lineup during the latter part of the spring. She won her final three matches at No. 2 singles to finish the regular season prior to the tournament.
"In the fall, she hadn't played tennis for a year and a half because she redshirted down at New Mexico State," Summitt said. "It was more about finding out her identity as a player and just playing matches to get experience. Now, she's gotten that. She started lower in the lineup and she's worked her way up.
"We all knew she had the game – the body, the strength, the power – to be a top player. The fact that she's all-conference in her first year here says a lot about her skill level. If she's healthy next year, and works on a few things for next year, I expect nothing but good things to come from it."
Di Giulio and Summitt hit it off immediately after she'd entered the transfer portal. Originally from Toronto, she had no tie to the Midwest other than the relationship she built with her new head coach.
"I trusted him when I was being recruited," she said. "And the fact that he was very team-oriented and family-oriented, that was something that was very big for me. It drew me to the girls here."
Di Giulio is expected to play a big role in Omaha tennis moving forward. The Mavericks will lose valuable experience with the departure of Madison Gallegos and Natalie Lorentz, who wrapped up their careers.
However, Omaha returns a proven leader in senior Ines Absisan and a slew of talented underclassmen that have been in competitive situations early in their collegiate careers. They're all veterans now.
"This team is amazing," Di Giulio said. "I think that we have a lot of good things we can work on and good things that we can work off of going into next season. Next season is looking very positive for us."
It happened to Alexia Di Giulio at the recent Summit League Championships in Omaha. The freshman was going point-for-point with Denver senior Taylor Melville at No. 2 singles in the semifinal round.
It was a matchup of All-Summit League performers. Di Giulio raced to a 4-1 lead before dropping the opening set 6-4. She bounced back to go up a break, 2-0, in the second set when the match was halted.
When Denver reached the needed four wins to advance, the rest of the matches were left unfinished. Di Giulio had the momentum in her match, yet didn't get the chance to vie for a big season-ending victory.
"I'm very confident in my game now," she said. "And I built a lot over the last couple of conference matches. Having a team that believes in me as much as I believe in them has been the biggest thing."
Di Giulio transferred to Omaha after redshirting at New Mexico State. She's thrilled that she did.
"It's better than I had hoped for," she said. "Coach [Adam] Summitt is an amazing coach, and I couldn't have asked for a better person to work under as I've moved to Omaha. The same thing with my team. I couldn't have asked for a greater team to move into. I'm really grateful for the family that I've built here in Omaha. They're the greatest group of girls I could've asked for, especially coming in as a transfer."
Di Giulio overcame illness and injury to climb up the Omaha lineup during the latter part of the spring. She won her final three matches at No. 2 singles to finish the regular season prior to the tournament.
"In the fall, she hadn't played tennis for a year and a half because she redshirted down at New Mexico State," Summitt said. "It was more about finding out her identity as a player and just playing matches to get experience. Now, she's gotten that. She started lower in the lineup and she's worked her way up.
"We all knew she had the game – the body, the strength, the power – to be a top player. The fact that she's all-conference in her first year here says a lot about her skill level. If she's healthy next year, and works on a few things for next year, I expect nothing but good things to come from it."
Di Giulio and Summitt hit it off immediately after she'd entered the transfer portal. Originally from Toronto, she had no tie to the Midwest other than the relationship she built with her new head coach.
"I trusted him when I was being recruited," she said. "And the fact that he was very team-oriented and family-oriented, that was something that was very big for me. It drew me to the girls here."
Di Giulio is expected to play a big role in Omaha tennis moving forward. The Mavericks will lose valuable experience with the departure of Madison Gallegos and Natalie Lorentz, who wrapped up their careers.
However, Omaha returns a proven leader in senior Ines Absisan and a slew of talented underclassmen that have been in competitive situations early in their collegiate careers. They're all veterans now.
"This team is amazing," Di Giulio said. "I think that we have a lot of good things we can work on and good things that we can work off of going into next season. Next season is looking very positive for us."
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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