POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Marist Women's Tennis seniors
Jada Tijani and
Amy Galloway went for a drastic change of scenery when coming to Marist College.
For Tijani, the Suwanee, Georgia native was leaving her home state for an opportunity in a new part of the country. Galloway took her journey further, in a literal sense, moving across the world from Wellington, New Zealand to join the Red Fox family.
For a young adult, and a student-athlete in this case, change is inevitable when arriving to a new school. There are the necessary tasks of managing time for practices, homework, games and events, classes, extracurricular activities, and more homework. Adding a cross-country and cross-world move as Tijani and Galloway did, respectively, to each of those challenges adds another layer of difficulty to finding that balance.
The duo made it work, and then some.
As the veterans for the 2019-20 women's tennis squad, Tijani and Galloway set the tone for their perseverance through the typical tribulations of a student-athlete, exhibiting crucial leadership both on the court and in their Marist community.
"Both Amy and Jada were excellent representatives of the Marist student-athlete, and were a major part of the team fabric in terms of spirit and sportsmanship," commended Director of Tennis
Gary Sussman.
Galloway was a standout student-athlete at Wellington Girls' College in New Zealand. She recorded two top-five performances in secondary school nationals, and was a team captain for the Senior A tennis team.
With as much success as she had in her home country, she furthered her tennis career with a change of scenery of almost 9,000 miles to the Hudson Valley. Almost immediately, she immersed herself into the collegiate hustle. She had planned to major in Economics and Psychology, with a minor in Cognitive Science. In competition, she ended her freshman campaign with a 12-10 overall record.
Obstacles popped up along the way. Health issues limited her exposure on the court, particularly in her sophomore and junior seasons. Despite these setbacks, her academics did not suffer, as she was selected to the MAAC All-Academic Team in her prior two years.
Entering her final season, it all came together once again.
"Amy fought health problems during her first three years, but she was healthy (this year) for the first season in her collegiate career," said Sussman. "She worked extremely hard in the offseason to regain her form, and was exhibiting the style of play that she had demonstrated earlier in her Marist career."
That perseverance showed in the results; she led the Red Foxes this season with eight wins in doubles play, and went 6-3 in dual matches. Combined with her four singles triumphs, she recorded the most wins since her rookie year, and was primed to set a career-best with at least eight matches left on the schedule before the season was cut short.
Tijani's journey from the Peach State to the Empire State was a mere 8,068 miles shorter than Galloway's, but no different in the lifestyle change. She had originally started her collegiate career at Kennesaw State, just 45 miles away from her hometown. In her freshman year, she totaled 15 wins and made the Dean's List.
After her sophomore year, however, she opted for the cooler climate of the Hudson Valley to play out her final two years, joining the new coach in Sussman. While she was unable to avoid the adjustments of moving to a new school and living in the Northeast, those hurdles were unseen in the way she impacted the team competitively.
In her junior season, she compiled seven doubles wins, and went 4-1 in MAAC play to help Marist reach the MAAC Championship semifinals. She built off that first season in the Red and White with a career-best nine combined wins in her senior campaign, picking up a singles win over Monmouth and a doubles victory against Rider in the fall.
"A fierce doubles player, Jada was playing her best tennis of the year as we headed into spring break," lauded Sussman.
Tijani's on-court performances showed her ability to quickly adjust, and it was the Information Technology major's accomplishments off the court that have also served her well in her two years at Marist. In January, she was one of four Red Fox representatives at the 2020 Black Student-Athlete Summit at the University of Texas, participating in workshops, sessions, and keynote addresses focused on networking, mental health, identity, spirituality, and current issues.
"The Black Student-Athlete Summit was amazing in that it allowed us to interact with other athletes from around the country who could identify with what we each faced mentally on a daily basis," mentioned Tijani after the summit. "It was a life-changing experience that opened my mind even more to a world outside of athletics. We often get caught up in the student-athlete hustle, and we forget that one day, this chapter will close. I am now more sure of my identity, both inside and outside of athletics; I learned things that will inspire current and future student-athletes and would highly recommend this experience to anybody."
With the rest of their final seasons canceled, Galloway and Tijani now face what was an inevitable obstacle that became abruptly accelerated for them: ending their tennis careers. Upon departing Marist, both will begin their careers in their respective fields. The next few months will feature new challenges and a variety of lifestyle adjustments.
However, it was new for Tijani to transfer schools and move to the Northeast. It was new for Galloway to move from the Eastern Hemisphere to the United States. It was new for both of them to balance the rigors of a student-athlete, a Marist education, and the various extracurriculars. Their perseverance guided them through those challenges, and will continue to do so in this new chapter.
Each week for the next three weeks, the Marist Athletics Department will spotlight the Class of 2020 from the spring sports whose seasons ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 outbreak. To learn more about these seniors, check back on GoRedFoxes.com, and follow Marist Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
