Many 7-year-olds find themselves watching television, playing video games or playing outside, or nowadays riding around on their electric scooters and bike; but not for senior Maria Purizaca Soto.
“My mom was just trying to get up into a sport during the summer,” Purizaca said. “I fell in love with tennis and my brother and I begged my mom to keep going… She didn’t want us to get distracted and pay less attention to school. In the end she agreed, but we needed to have good grades.”
From there, Purizaca not only kept up with her schoolwork but also started practicing five days a week, along with playing in national tournaments by the age of nine and ten. Purizaca played in these tournaments up to the age of 12, where she always placed in the top three.
“Our coach would prioritize control and consistency,” Purizaca said. “We would always take an hour of wall exercises, playing by ourselves and so forth, so it was basically repetition.”
Purizaca also explained that she and her brother were always encouraged to work more than others because the other players and kids had a whole team to help them with their performance like tennis coaches, sports psychologists, trainers, nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches. But for Purizaca and her brother it was different.
“It was just us, our family and our coach,” Purizaca said.
With this support, Purizaca continued to stay in the top three at all of her tournaments while growing up, along with representing her home country, Peru, in the South America Tennis Tournament.
Fast forward to October 16, 2026, Purizaca just finished tennis practice when her coach, Director of Tennis, Ed Hubbs, informed her that she made it into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regionals.
“I almost cried a little bit,” Purizaca said. “Some of my teammates were not feeling the same way as me, so I kind of tried to hold it, but some of them were really happy for me and hugged me.”
When Purizaca made it home, she could actually let go of her emotions, where she even yelled “I just got into nationals,” startling some of her roommates.
“When I heard her screaming, I thought someone was hurt or something along those lines,” junior Maddison McClure, one of Purizaca’s roommates, said.
Purizaca told her roommates about how excited she was, along with explaining how this was her goal since her freshman year.
“I was always so close to qualifying and I never did,” Purizaca said. “But now, my senior year, my last chance to go.”
When Purizaca got to Rome, Georgia, where the tournament was being held, she was nervous but knew she needed to give her best.
“I started at my 100% each match and tried to maintain the same level throughout the whole competition,” Purizaca said. “Each match I won, my coach, my brother and my coach’s wife celebrated with me, and every time I was in shock like did I just win one more round?”
In the final match of the ITA Regionals, Purizaca went up against Concordia University’s Seohyeon Jang, where they went 6-4 and 6-1, ending Purizaca’s winning streak.
“If I had to thank anyone for getting me to this point it would first be my former coach, who tried to help little kids in poverty with the goal of getting a higher education for them,” Purizaca said. “Along with my family because they were always there to support me throughout the years. And of course my current coach because he not only helps me get better at tennis, but as a person as well.”
