With the spring sports season canceled at its very beginning (or before it even started, for some Union teams) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UnionAthletics.com will spend the next few months spotlighting many of the Union seniors whose athletic careers came to a premature end. Previous senior profiles can be viewed by heading to http://www.unionathletics.com/seniorspotlights.
 
Tal Pezzuco will leave Union as one of the top women's tennis players in program history, earning All-Liberty League honors in both singles and doubles in each of her first three seasons with the Dutchwomen. She stepped onto campus as the team's top player and remained so for four straight seasons, having played all 43 of her career singles dual matches and 40-of-43 career doubles dual matches at the top flight.
 
She was named the USTA Rhode Island College Player of the Year as a sophomore after posting a 19-8 singles record and 18-6 doubles mark, which tied for the third-most singles wins in a season ever at Union. For her career, her 40 singles wins are fourth most in school history and both her singles and doubles (42) totals are the most by a Union player since Lauren Stellato '04.
 
What has been your favorite moment as a student-athlete at Union?
One of the moments that has stood out most to me in my career was when I was playing the last match of my junior year against New Paltz. It was dark out and I was the last match still going on under the lights. Bugs were eating everyone alive and the school work due the next day was far from done. But as I was grinding out my last set, my entire team sat on the court next to me cheering me on. This wasn't one of my biggest or most important matches, but it was the match that I realized how much it meant to me to be on a team in college.
 
How has being a student-athlete at Union benefited you over the last four years?
Being a student-athlete at Union has impacted me in so many ways. The tennis team helped me grow as a person overall. It has taught me organization skills, time management, leadership, and independence. These skills are something I could have never learned in a classroom and the reason I am who I am today.
 
What has been your most meaningful experience outside of athletics?
My most meaningful experience outside of athletics is every alumni weekend. I love seeing all of my friends that have graduated during my time here and all getting to be back together for a couple of days.
 
Who was/is your favorite professor at Union and why?
My favorite professor at Union is a man that has changed my life and made me into the person I am today. I came into Union not knowing what kind of engineer I wanted to be, but after getting to know Professor James Hedrick [Senior Lecturer in Electrical and Computer Engineering], I knew I wanted to become an electrical engineer. He is one of the most inspiring, intelligent, and wise people I have ever met. He is someone that I can go to with any problem I have even if it is outside of school work.
 
Do you have plans for post-graduation yet?  If so, what are they?
After graduation, I plan to work at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in Marlborough, Mass. as an RF Electrical Engineer.
 
What advice would you give to younger athletes about their time at Union?
As I recently told my team, being an athlete is going to be hard. You are going to miss that big party or important test review. Your body is going to feel like mush from three-day tournaments. You are going to get annoyed with your teammates. But if you stick it out and fight for your sport it is all amazingly worth it in the end.