In the early months of 2017, Babar Akbar took to the University of Idaho tennis courts to survey what was about to become his new team.
Marianna Petrei setting up to serve
The eventual Idaho women’s tennis team head coach said he wanted to preview some of the talent of an already dominant squad. Coming off three consecutive conference titles, Idaho housed an effective mixture of veteran stars and promising young hotshots.
Akbar said while quickly examining his future players, he noticed a young athlete by the name of Marianna Petrei. Based on his brief stint attending Vandal practices before securing the job, Akbar said he was not altogether impressed with the sophomore athlete.
“I had just applied for the job and we had got done with practice,” he said. “I was volunteering and stuck around after practice and we started talking. She said, ‘I hope you get the job.’ I think that’s where it all started.”
It didn’t take long for Petrei, the eventual record holder for singles wins in program history, to change her head coach’s mind. Akbar said after just a few sets of play, Petrei had reasserted herself as the obvious choice for court No. 1.
But the top spot on the roster was nothing new for Petrei. Since being recruited to the program by former head coach Mariana Cobra, Petrei had never played a singles match lower than No. 1. According to Petrei, the situation as a freshman seemed confusing at first, but she quickly learned to accept and eventually dominate in her role.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” Petrei said. “(Cobra) just put me at No. 1.”
Alongside Petrei for the past four years, senior Maria Tavares also proved her worth and earned a boost in the lineup once Akbar arrived in Moscow.
“The records these two have, you have to see how much work they put in every day on the court,” Akbar said. “I did not think we were going to end up where we did, but after my first semester with both of them, I thought Maria at No. 4 was being underutilized. I thought she was a better player. I knew Marianna was good, I just didn’t realize how good. I did not expect any of this.”
The pair quickly went from giving the Vandals a promising future to cementing their legacy as a dynamic duo.
Coming in as a freshman in spring 2016, Petrei went a perfect 11-0 in Big Sky play, losing only six sets in her debut season. She set an Idaho record for winning percentage with 0.88 and lost just one conference doubles match in 2016. Through her first three seasons as a Vandal, Petrei posted an undefeated record in the Big Sky Conference, leading her team to three conference championships and just as many berths into the NCAA Tournament.
Petrei also set a record for Big Sky Tennis Player of the Week awards with 10 and earned the coveted spot of all-time leader in singles victories in Idaho women’s tennis history.
But to Petrei, the honors didn’t come in the form of accolades, but in the progress she made on the court.
“I’m proud of it, but at the same time, I was never actually thinking about it,” she said. “I was just trying to get better every day.”
Now, the Udine, Italy, native will soon say goodbye to the program that made her a conference legend. Petrei said in five years, she could see herself working in the business world, utilizing the degree she will earn next year.
As for Akbar, he said it won’t be easy finding replacements capable of filling the large shoes left by Tavares and Petrei.
“I learned a lot from them about what it means to be a Vandal and what it means to play for the university,” Akbar said. “It’s been a very good experience for me to have these two to show me in my first few years what it means to be a college coach. It’s been fantastic.”
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill