Junior Mariana Reding has the word “fly” written inside her shoe, which is a nod to the advice her dad would give back home during her matches. She said playing tennis often reminds her of her cultural heritage and her family.
“My dad used to tell me, ‘Fly Mar fly!’ in my matches,” Reding said.
She said she loves when people watch her matches because it makes her feel more supported and involved with Mexican culture. In Mexico, she said people are always very supportive, asking her family, “What is her score, and where can I watch it?”
She said she feels that tennis is a way to stay connected with her cultural heritage, and now that she gets to meet and bond with people from different cultures it will help her understand the world better.
Reding came to the Elon University women’s tennis team from a smaller school in Mexico.
Choosing Elon wasn’t too difficult for Reding. She said she had some familiarity with the school as her sister, Lizette Reding ’24, was the reason why she picked Elon University. Mariana Reding said she told her sister not to tell her anything about the campus experience. She said she wanted it to be a surprise and to find out on her own.
“It was difficult at first, and thank God I had my sister,” Reding said. “Because my sister knew where to go for everything.”
Mariana Reding stands on a tennis court.
But like everyone, it took time for Reding to get used to college. She said there were areas she was not used to, such as the food schedule of the United States compared to the food schedule in Mexico.
“For sure, it was hard,” Mariana Reding said. “At the beginning, everything seems different, like starting the food schedule and right here, you have dinner at 6:30 p.m., which is something I haven’t been used to. I would usually eat at eight.”
The schedule was not the only thing that was different to Reding. She said she was also not used to a school as large as Elon.
“I’ve never gone to a big school in my life,” Reding said. “It was really little, so I would get lost here at Elon on the campus.”
She also said the culture at Elon is incredible. She remembers there were times where she’d be walking around campus getting compliments about her shoes.
Reding shared two pieces of advice her sister gave her: to keep being herself and to keep her own identity.
After a while, Reding said she was able to get used to the U.S. and the college experience, especially the social aspect, and this translated to the tennis court.
In Mexico, Reding was a part of the International Tennis Federation. She played alone and competed in front of crowds of people across different countries. She said she admired the transition from that playing style to the way Division I schools play tennis.
Reding said she loves the team’s enthusiasm when she’s competing. That is a good factor of teamwork and sportsmanship.
“Here you learn how to play in teams, and I love that and the fact that I am playing with four to five other people next to you, and they are supporting you,” Reding said.
Reding said playing with her sister, who also played tennis at Elon, helped her a lot with practice and preparation.
“It went well, first of all, with my sister. It was some fun. We would fight, like we usually do it during practices, and in the competition,“ Reding said.
They both played together and had similar personal statistics. For example, Reding had a 15-7 overall singles record her freshman year, just like her sister. This included a win streak of 3 wins against ranked opponents. She also compiled a 13-8 overall doubles record.
Like many collegiate athletes, they have to make certain adjustments, train more, and improve their progress and skill as each season goes on.
For Reding, she needed to develop her team-play compared to what she did in the ITF.
“My sister is like ‘You’re not playing individually anymore,’” Reding said. “You got to learn how to play as a team because I was very focused on my court.”
As a result, during her sophomore season she had a 16-6 overall singles record and a 18-4 overall doubles record. To add to this success, she started off this season by getting the 2025 All-CAA First Team - Doubles and got the same award for singles.
Reding said the team has players from around the world. She said she has enjoyed bonding with her teammates and talking about their different languages and cultures.
Benjamin Berfield contributed to the reporting of this story.