Hitting The Court With Smaranda Stan

Stan is the only senior on the UB Women's Tennis Team

Smaranda Stan

Q: Why did you choose to come to Buffalo from Romania?
A: One of my friends, Andreea Novaceanu, was already playing for UB and she was number 1 on the team. Then her brother let me know about the school. Andreea and I started to talk through e-mail and she talked to Kathy Twist about me and that’s how the coach and I started talking. I love everything about UB. Everything that she described to me sounded amazing. This is a place I wanted to be. I was really excited when I found out that I’d be playing for the Bulls especially because I love the color blue and the Bulls colors are blue and white. I also heard about an international group on the team so I thought it would be an easier adjustment for me to move. It was my dream for years to come and play in the U.S. but I never took the step to do it. Seeing Andreea take the step inspired me and made me realize that I can do this too. I don’t regret anything about it.

Q: What are your favorite parts of UB and Buffalo?
A: My favorite part is the UB family. I am a totally different person than I was 2 years ago and it’s all because of them. I got to develop myself as a person, a tennis player and as a student. I feel like I’m ready for life now. I got to go through all of these steps and I can definitely say the program is amazing. I love the structure and everything about UB. Everybody helps you so much with everything; there’s no way you’re not going to succeed playing through this program.

Q: How do you balance school and tennis?
A: I find it harder in the spring because obviously we’re in the season. I love tennis and for me it has always been a priority to me but I also need to make school a priority. I manage to deal with everything by always having a schedule and making sure I do everything on time. We have a lot of support from the academic advising department. For example, we have tutors and advisors that help us go through everything which makes the process go so much smoother. We just have to study and everything will come into place.

Q: What are your dislikes about tennis and practicing?
A: It’s very hard to say that I have any dislikes about practice because I love tennis. I’ve been playing since I was 3 years old and I just love being on the court it makes me smile every time. Maybe the only challenge right now in the spring is waking up at 7 am every morning but I know why I have to wake up. In the end it gives me the power to go out there and have the energy to play and work for the team. In the end that’s what we want, we want to succeed as a team.

Q: Tell me about your feelings when you won the 2008 MAC Championship.
A: It was definitely one of the most memorable moments of my life. I don’t think I’ll ever have that feeling again. We worked very hard to get there. My first and second years here we lost in the finals so it was really hard to accept that we lost but we knew that we had the power and that we could win. Last year it was just like a miracle and everything fell into place. We struggled all season; we had a lot of challenges. We would lose matches 4 to 3, just really heartbreaking matches but that’s what got us ready for the championship. Even throughout the championship we struggled too; it wasn’t easy and we knew that so we took it step by step. In the quarters we won 4-3. That was the deciding match in the quarter finals, semi-finals and in the finals. I definitely played a big role in this win. I trusted myself that I could go until the end and I could win any match. It was a great experience to see how everybody stepped up. We had some players that just played amazing that day. The whole team contributed. Each day we had 4 people that worked for the team and that’s what we needed. We needed 4 people to win every day and everybody stepped up exactly when we needed, nobody folded. The way we managed to do that was amazing. I remember the last match like it was yesterday I don’t think I will ever forget it. Everything stopped at that moment and I couldn’t believe it. I saw people crying around us. There was so much emotion. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to describe it in words how much it meant for me to be the one out there to help the team get something that no other team had accomplished at UB. It was just amazing, an amazing feeling.

Q: How do you prepare yourself for matches?
A: I like to get myself pumped up for the match because I tend to be a slow starter and I know it. So I always get ready by either drinking Gatorade or listening to music. I love House music that really gets me pumped up for a match. I’m usually the one joking around on the team and I get my team mates ready for the match too. I think those are the few rituals that I have. We have a notebook with goals listed so I look in there. I know what my goals are for the match and I just have the confidence that I can win against anybody, which has got me a lot of wins so far.

Q: What are your most memorable experiences? A: I’ve had a lot of memorable moments. I find myself laughing just thinking about what the team went through. We are a very funny group and we have a lot of interesting things going on every practice and every trip. My favorite part of being on the team was getting to know someone new every year. I have friends that I know are going to be friends for a lifetime now. I have relationships with most of them that I don’t think I will ever be able to find again. That’s what matters in the end, the people that are around you and that you are going to carry on in your life.

This feature was written by Athletic Communications Intern Jennifer Nickrenz