In the early months of 2017, Babar Akbar took to the University of Idaho tennis courts to survey what was about to become his new team.
The eventual Idaho women’s tennis team head coach said he wanted to preview some of the talent of an already dominant squad. Coming off three consecutive conference titles, Idaho housed an effecti
ve mixture of veteran stars and promising young hotshots.
Akbar said while quickly examining his future players, he noticed a young athlete by the name of Marianna Petrei. Based on his brief stint attending Vandal practices before securing the job, Akbar said he was not altogether impressed with the sophomore athlete.