Sophomore Miranda Podlas was not offered any scholarships to play tennis going into college. After walking on to the women's tennis team, she proved that she deserved one.
As an un-recruited player coming out of high school, Podlas earned a starting spot and eventually a scholarship from her hometown college in just one year.
It is a frequent occurrence for a college sports teams to sign walk-ons to fill the space at the bottom of their rosters. But that was not the case for Podlas, as she led the team in victories her first season.
Playing collegiate tennis seemed possible at a very young age for Podlas. She began playing tennis at age 4, and by 11 she realized she had the potential to play at the collegiate level. But coaches didn't feel the same and she received no scholarship offers.
Most coaches, including head coach Kathy Twist, recruit heavily overseas because tennis is a global sport. Twist has pulled in players from different parts of the world to build her current team and almost missed out on a star that lives in the shadows of the school.
Podlas was a three-sport athlete at Williamsville East High School, which is just minutes away from UB's North Campus. However, there was one sport that stood out.
"I realized I wanted to focus on tennis, I wanted it to be my main passion and if I worked hard I could play at the Division-1 level," Podlas said. "In the end, I was happy I picked tennis because I love going out on the court every day."
Podlas earned a walk-on spot on the women's tennis roster as a freshman. She began the treacherous journey of proving herself to coaches and her teammates, all of whom were receiving scholarships.
"[Being a walk-on] made me work harder to prove myself and prove that I'm capable of playing on the team," Podlas said. "I understood that tournament wise I needed to play more. [Twist] saw as matches went by and I got more experience [that] I had the potential."
Podlas never let the fact that she was the only walk-on stop her from believing she deserved to be on the team.
"It was tough, but I like a challenge," Podlas said. "Sports are my life, and I knew if I worked hard enough I could play both singles and doubles. It was kind of a motivation for me to better myself, my game, and prove to everyone that I could be one of the top players on the team."
As a freshman, Podlas started every singles and doubles match of the season. She led the team in singles victories going 14-5 at the sixth spot, and started at first doubles with an impressive 10-4 record.
The journey did not end there.
The once motivated walk-on with the dreams of becoming a Division-1 athlete was awarded a scholarship from Twist.
Podlas looked forward to a permanent position on the team during her sophomore year with the challenge of proving herself as a freshman behind her.
Her next step into expanding her role on the squad was not one that came on the court. The Buffalo women's tennis team has seven players on its roster, all of which are from countries other than the U.S.
But this challenge is something all six girls were able to face together. In the small world of Buffalo women's tennis, Podlas was actually the foreigner.
But at no point did this ever pose a problem for her.
"It's kind of an honor to be the only American," Podlas said. "I love my team. It's nice to [experience] different cultures and see how much different they are from you, we all get along, so it works out well."
As the lone Buffalonian, Podlas has taken it upon herself to set-up trips to Sabres games and other local attractions.
"I think when you have a team that's split apart and you have certain groups, it really hurts the team chemistry," Podlas said. "Outside of tennis, we go to movies and we're always together throughout every day. I really think that helps chemistry and performing well on the court if you are all one group."
Podlas' record has dropped slightly this year, but she is facing harder competition having moved up to the fifth spot in the lineup. With the season coming to end, a long off-season is in store. Twist anticipates great things come fall from one of her team's hardest workers.
"I know during the summer she'll be working on her own and playing tournaments," Twist said. "She's going to be prepared when she comes back in the fall and she's going to be even better than when she left here."
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