Rocket Spotlight on...Julia Kuszynski

A two-time Academic All-MAC and ITA Scholar-Athlete honoree with a 4.00 GPA, Julia Kuszynski enters her fourth season on the women's tennis team and is pursuing a degree in exercise science. The Markham, Ontario native is one of three children in her family to play collegiate tennis in the United States.

On tennis becoming a family sport
I liked that tennis was an individual sport and that I only had myself to rely on and I didn't have to worry about what others were doing around me. No one around me was playing so I thought it was cool to do something different rather than following along with everyone else in my community.

I started playing first, my older brother Peter started shortly after me, and then our younger brother Simon started playing too. Peter played at Western Michigan and Simon plays at Portland State in Oregon. It was nice having Peter just a few hours away. My first year in Toledo was the COVID year and my parents couldn't cross the border to move me in or visit but I was lucky enough to have Peter close by, and he helped move me in and picked me up for holiday breaks, which made my transition a lot easier.

We're all super close, as cliché as it sounds, I think distance does make the heart grow fonder. Our schedules are super different but when all three of us are all home, we practice together which is one of the nice things about having two brothers who play tennis – I never have to worry about finding a hitting partner or someone to run drills with. They've both taught me to never quit until I get what I want and so I give them a lot of credit for pushing me to take the college athlete route in the U.S.

On the decision to become a student-athlete in the U.S.
Canada is similar to the U.S., but college sports are very different. In Canada, college sports aren't as big or recognized as they are in the U.S. because there isn't a lot of funding for them. It is a very individual world back home. You aren't given scholarships to play, and you have to put the money into sports.

On choosing the University of Toledo
I was looking at a few Mid-American Conference schools just because Peter went to a MAC school. Toledo was my first visit and as soon as I stepped onto campus, I knew this was where I was supposed to be. I didn't know what I wanted to do coming into college, but I knew I wanted to do something in healthcare. I was interested in medicine and how the body works, and being an athlete, I have been around the rehab and therapy side of health care, so I thought exercise science was a good major to set me on that path. Since being here, I have been exposed to a few different fields like physical therapy and I enjoyed it a lot which is why I chose to be on the physical therapy track. I've been applying to PT schools, and I've done some interviews so hopefully that works out.

On her recovery from a knee injury last fall
It was one of the most difficult things I have encountered because growing up I had never been injured before. I didn't know when I would be back. There were a lot of unknowns with this injury, and I had to make a lot of adjustments. I had to learn how to go from being able to walk every day and going to practice to being on crutches and not being able to bend my knee. I was given the ability to move, exercise, and play sports at a high level, and being injured taught me that I can't take that for granted, I am so thankful to have the ability.

On competing for back-to-back MAC Championships
I think it's cool to see how determined we are to win the MAC and how far we got. In my second year, we made the tournament, which was a big accomplishment for us, but we lost in the finals. Last year, we went undefeated and were regular season champions for the first time but we lost in the tournament. We know our job is not done yet and we're all in the same boat. We never settled, we never thought it was enough, and I think coming into this season were almost more eager. We're ready, we're coming for both the regular season and the tournament title this year.

On the Rockets' team culture
One of the biggest things that brought me to Toledo was the team culture. I could tell that the girls were very close and that Coach Tracy Mauntler cared about creating a family away from your family. We all have different interests and are involved in different things, but we click and we are one big happy family. Our coaches have done a good job of building the culture and maintaining relationships after we graduate.

Players Mentioned

Julia Kuszynski

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