Gala Mesochoritou

While many freshmen make an immediate impact on their teams at Michigan, tennis rising senior Gala Mesochoritou stands out. Her freshman campaign started out with an impressive 17-0 singles record.

"I kept playing matches and I kept winning," said Mesochoritou, "but I wasn't really thinking 'Oh I'm 17-0' or 'I'm 10-0.' I just kept playing and was having fun and was happy to help my team."

Her concentration on individual matches was so strong that she did not realize she was undefeated until she saw a post from team's Twitter account. Unfortunately for Mesochoritou, her run came to a screeching halt with an injury.

"I got injured right before Big Tens and NCAAs," she said. "It was also my first big injury; I had never been injured before."

Given the timing of that injury, she was forced into a role on the sidelines and encouraged her teammates throughout those Big Ten and NCAA competitions. Unsure what her injury was in the moment, she described finding out the news that it was her anterior cruciate ligament.

"When my trainer called me and said I had torn my ACL and I have to get surgery, it was pretty hard for me," she said. "But my coaches and my teammates and everyone really supported me and helped me get through it."

The process of recovery was not easy and took her more than nine months to fully return to tennis. "I really wanted to get back on court," she said. "I was working really hard. It was hard to watch my teammates play." But watching her teammates from the bench also taught Mesochoritou a valuable lesson.

"Before (the injury), I thought playing was the only way I could help, but I realized that's not true," she said. "Coming to college, what I learned is that tennis is a team sport

in college, you're not playing on your own anymore. So every person on the team counts; it doesn't matter if you're in the lineup or not."

After a difficult sophomore year progressing through her recovery, Mesochoritou came into her junior year this season ready to take on more of a leadership role on the team.

"As a junior, I am really happy I can help my teammates," she said. "I can show my younger teammates how to be a good teammate, how to bring energy and how to help everyone."

Similar in her approach to being undefeated freshman year, Mesochoritou just works hard in the classroom and reaps the rewards. Influenced by her mother, she has been interested in psychology and the mind since childhood, and as she got older, she explored the subject before coming to college, explaining how she "would always read books about psych and how the mind works." A few classes later after arriving in Ann Arbor, she was sure psychology was the right choice for her and has since earned Academic All-Big ten honors twice. However, she was unaware about that milestone, too. Similar to finding out she was undefeated as a freshman, she was surprised to find out she earned the academic honors.

"Studying psychology has helped me a lot," Mesochoritou said in relating her studies to her athletic performance. "On the court, I can control my feelings in what I show my opponent, and that's a big factor in my tennis matches."

Her favorite class so far has been developmental psychology in which students "start the semester talking about how you grow and how your mindset changes as you grow up." On the subject of growing up, Mesochoritou's experience was less than typical even for a college athlete. Born in Greece and starting tennis after following her siblings' play, she learned to play along with her dad, who started playing at the same time as her and still enjoys playing with him.

Coming to the United States to play college tennis was not the only leap of faith Mesochoritou made. "When I was 11, I moved to Spain because I started taking my tennis more seriously. Spain is known as a really good country for tennis," she said. "Getting on the plane when I was 11 alone was super scary." She stayed with a host family for six years, eventually realizing college tennis was the path she wanted to take instead of the professional route. Moving to a new country at such a young age and living independently helped prepare her for college life with much less of a transition than most students.

Mesochoritou made the commitment to play for the Maize and Blue without setting foot on campus after connecting with coaches over Skype and knowing Michigan was the right place. Given all of her success in the classroom and on the tennis court, it sure seems like that commitment is paying off. "Through all these years, with my mom, and all the books I've read, (studying psychology) really has helped me have a positive mindset on court and just keep myself together," she said. "I have really supportive coaches and teammates and trainers that are really helping me get through this and make me better."

She also discussed her time on the bench while injured and the opportunity to help her teammates as being among the biggest lessons during her journey at Michigan.

"Cheering on the team from the bench has played a big role, too, because if I see my teammate down, I want to be able to help them and it doesn't matter if I can play or not -- I'm still playing a big role on the team," she said. "Every person can help, no matter if they're playing or not."