For Samantha Czarniak, the road to the University of Arizona tennis team has not exactly been the traditional path.
 
Czarniak's path didn't start in Arizona, or even in the United States. Instead, Czarniak's story begins in São Paulo, Brazil. While living and practicing in Brazil, she won two notable ITF doubles tournaments. The first came in 2010 at the ITF Quito tournament, where she won with partner Laura Ucros in Quito, Ecuador. The other came in 2011 at the Bahia Juniors Cup in Salvador, Brazil, where she won the title with Ingrid Gamarra Martins.
 
Cznarkiak was ranked as high as number 215 in the world as a junior player and as high as number 1,011 by the WTA after turning 18. 
 
She played in tournaments throughout Brazil, boosting her stock and skill in her teenage years. Czarniak moved to the United States next to pursue a collegiate career. She began her career at Texas Tech, before transferring to Arizona prior to the 2015-16 school year.
 
"I think the main difference for me coming from Brazil was the court, because we play on a clay court in Brazil," said Czarniak. "We don't have hard courts, so on clay the game and pace is much slower. In the United States, they don't have a lot of clay courts, especially in college tennis, so the game and pace is much faster."
 
After posting a 14-7 record last year for the Wildcats, it's safe to say she has definitely adapted to the change in surfaces.
 
Off the court, the biggest change for her was actually playing on a team, instead of training and competing individually as she had for so many years in Brazil. 
 
"In Brazil, I played more individual tournaments, so I never really had a team," said Czarniak. "So, when I came to college, it was a big transition having a big group of girls as a team. But, it's nice because it's almost like having a family away from home." 
 
Czarniak has found that family in Tucson after a couple of years in Texas.
 
"When I came to visit Arizona and talked to (coach Vicky Maes), I really thought she believed in my potential and would give me an opportunity to improve and play more," Czarnkiak said.
 
She was right.
 
"Samantha Czarniak is one of the hardest working students I have ever coached," Maes said. "She pours her heart and soul into training and preparation. She oozes passion for the game and is a great leader by example."
 
That passion and preparation translated into success for Czarniak as she captured her first tournament win in the Wildcat Invitational at the end of September. She downed New Mexico's Ludivine Burgeuiere in three sets: 4-5, 7-5, 6-3.
 
"[The Wildcat Invitational] was very positive for me. Obviously I'm a senior, so it's just always good to win another fall tournament as I come up to the end," said Czarniak. "I think I was definitely a little nervous coming into it because you want senior year to be your best year, so I definitely had a lot of pressure on myself, so it was really nice to get over that hump and get the win."
 
Going forward, Czarniak isn't letting her early success get to her head and is sticking to the team oriented, hardworking attitude that has gotten her this far.  
 
"For myself personally, I don't have any goals on where I would like to be playing, I just enjoy being out there, and wherever I play I just want to give 100% all of the time," noted Czarniak.  "Obviously, it's my senior year so as a team I think we all know our goal is to go to Nationals. We didn't make it last year, so I really hope we can do that."
 
Czarniak and the Wildcats head to San Diego State University for their last fall tournament Nov. 11-13.