WEST PITTSTON — Tiffany Callaio watched Brianna Pizzano and knew there was something special.
Yes, Pizzano was just a freshman, so you just never know how first-time players are going to react.
But Callaio, the fifth-year tennis coach at Wyoming Area, kind of had that gut feeling.
“Brianna wasn’t sure how she was going to do this season. With me being around the sport, I kind of had that feeling that she was going to do pretty well,” Callaio said.
Pretty well might be an understatement.
Pizzano finished her first season with an 18-2 record and a District 2 Class 2A singles championship. For her efforts, the Wyoming Area player has been named the 2016 Times Leader Girls Tennis Player of the Year.
“I set out to have a successful season and to do well at districts,” Pizzano said. “I hoped to come out of districts with the win, and have the opportunity to compete at states.”
Callaio saw it in Pizzano before the season even started.
“She is just so athletic,” Callaio said. “She does a lot of things that girls her age just don’t do. She just turned 15 in September, so she is still young. But she has that natural talent. She’s very consistent, and has great touch around the net. And because of her athleticism, she gets to a lot of balls that normal girls don’t get to.”
Pizzano, who also plays basketball and softball at Wyoming Area, set out on a wild journey that stretched from West Pittston to Kirby Park to Hershey.
Rewarded with the No. 1 seed in the District 2 Class 2A singles tournament after a stellar regular season, Pizzano wasted little time to make her presence felt at Kirby Park.
She dropped just two games in a victory over Wyoming Seminary’s Abby Capin.
She followed it up in the round of 32, again dropping just two games in a straight-set win over Holy Cross senior Kella Pacifico.
“I had nerves in the district tournament, but I overcame them by taking deep breaths and just tried to relax and calm myself down by focusing more on each point,” Pizzano said.
A 6-2, 6-0 victory over Valley View’s No. 1 Cali Craig set up a tough semifinal matchup with Scranton Prep’s Tatiana Klacko.
Playing more like an experienced senior than a freshman, Pizzano rolled in straight sets and earned a matchup in the final with Prep’s Gabi Jakubek.
There, Pizzano picked up another straight-set victory (6-4, 7-6) to earn her first district gold medal.
“The final was very intense and competitive,” Pizzano said. “There were many nerve-racking points throughout the whole match, especially during the second-set tiebreaker when Gabi was up 5-2 and I had to fight back to get the next five points.”
Only one of two freshmen in the state field of 16 players, Pizzano lost to Beaver High School’s Anne Taylor in the opening round.
“Getting to states as a freshman gives me a ton of confidence for future seasons,” Pizzano said.
Now, it’s on to the next season as she’ll try to make the same impact on the hardwood, and later in the spring on the softball diamond.
“I feel I compete well in all of my sports, but I would have to say tennis is my favorite,” she said.
Yet, she’ll still work on her tennis game. Playing at Birchwood and the Wyoming Valley Indoor Tennis Club, Pizzano will continue to work on her serve and pick up little tidbits on strategy of the game.
But she’ll never forget the memories of a remarkable year.
“Besides winning districts and getting to states, a special moment for me would be playing one of my best friends, Camryn Cassetori,” Pizzano said. “That match that we played was really fun because she’s such a good player.”
