Campana Sisters Hold Special Connection on the Court
2/10/2020 3:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis, Les Johns
Sophomore Carolyn Campana and freshman Anna Campana find the right fit academically and athletically at Wake Forest
It's safe to say the tennis matches around the Campana household in Hillsborough, California, get pretty intense.
Brothers Matthew and Peter played college tennis at St. Mary's and Boston College respectively. Their father, Mark Campana, played at UCLA.
And now sisters Carolyn and Anna are playing together at Wake Forest.
As for their mother, Adele? She often serves as family coach and referee.
"But she's biased toward my dad," Anna said.
"My family is really competitive and we all play tennis. We go after it on the court, but we play together (her and Carolyn) as doubles too. We like boys against girls, but we mix it up sometimes."
To Carolyn, there's little doubt who's at the top of the current Campana family rankings.
"Me," she said without hesitation. "My dad can still hang in there with me and Anna, but my brothers have fallen off the map."
Carolyn is in her sophomore season at Wake Forest, after transferring after one season at Vanderbilt. Anna has started her freshman campaign with the Deacs. They obviously know each other's game better than anyone else.
"It's definitely competitive," Carolyn said. "We're only a year and three months apart in age. Anna knows my game better than anybody and I know her game better than anybody. Anna is tough.
"We've played in a lot of national tournaments together and have won a lot of titles a pair. I am hopeful in the future that we will play together."
After a 6-1 win at William & Mary on Feb. 2, the Wake Forest women's tennis team has moved to 5-1 overall on the season. They began the season ranked before taking a loss in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend to now No. 12 Ohio State, and are still receiving votes, tho just outside the top 25. Carolyn is playing at the No. 2 doubles and No. 1 singles spot for the Deacs this season.
"They had great falls," Wake Forest coach Jeff Wyshner said. "Caroyln is a sophomore who played at Vanderbilt, where she had a great experience playing for a top-10 program. We're excited to get her here and had a fantastic fall with seven-or-eight nationally ranked wins, based on the preseason rankings.
"In one day, she beat the preseason eight and 18th-ranked players in the country. In a day. We're expecting a lot out of her. She's talented and great about going out on court every day and bringing it. She's not going to bring a sub-par effort."
Wyshner and his staff recruited Carolyn heavily out of high school, with both sisters coming together for a visit to Winston-Salem during the process.
"We tried really hard to get Carolyn when she was a junior in high school," Wyshner said. "We came really close, which is probably why she gave us another chance when she decided to transfer. During those visits with Carolyn, Anna was here. We were fortunate to have made a really good impression with Anna then. When Anna got into her junior year, she really impressed us."
Carolyn went 26-10 as a single competitor at Vanderbilt a season ago, rising to as high as No. 71 in the national rankings. Once she decided to look for a change of scenery, many thought Wake would end up being her ultimate destination, as by that time her sister Anna had already committed to the Deacs.
"A lot of people assumed I would come to Wake Forest, which was fair since Anna was committed here, but I didn't want to leave any stone unturned," Carolyn said. "I needed to make sure that was the right fit for me. I needed to find a place where I could develop my game to the fullest in my college experience. I had to give a chance to some other schools that were interested in me."
Wyshner said Carolyn was incredibly detailed in her second collegiate search — she was analytical, thorough and asked plenty of questions before coming to a decision.
"Anna was set here and signed, even before we knew Carolyn was going to transfer," he said. "Then Carolyn decided after NCAAs last year that she was going to transfer. She kept us on pins and needles for quite awhile. She went through an intense search.
"She had a lot of coaches visit her in San Francisco and considered a lot of options. But I think she really connected with our assistant coach Andy Roland. He's amazing at player development. I think he's one of the best in the country. Our players get better. We really pushed to her that the one-on-one work with Andy could help her get to where she wanted professionally."
Beyond the relationship with Roland, it was the academic rigor at Wake that was a big selling point to Carolyn.
"Wake has a great academic program," she said. "One day tennis will end, and you never know when that will happen. Being able to trust my coaches — they coaches dealt with a lot of questions during the transfer process to help make sure that this is what I'm looking for. They know what I want to work on and what I wanted to achieve at Wake. I know those things have a good chance of getting accomplished at Wake Forest.
"I had a great fall. One of my goals is to be an All-American at the end of this season. I'm on the right track with my singles ranking right now. Everything I've done so far is on the right track. I just need to put in the hard work and good things will come."
Anna was with her sister on her original visit to Wake Forest as a high schooler when she was offered by Wyshner.
"What if I went to Wake Forest?" Anna remembers thinking at the time.
Now they're both Demon Deacons.
"It's been amazing," Anna said. "We're like best friends. Carolyn knows me better than anyone. She's helping me adjust to college life, being away from home and managing the busy schedule."
Anna has been playing at the No. 3 or 4 singles spots in dual matches, going 2-0 so far this spring.
"Anna came in as a freshman and had a fantastic fall," Wyshner said. "She got an early ranked win, and established herself as someone we're going to rely on in the singles lineup."
Together, Carolyn and Anna Campana are helping make a positive impact on the Wake Forest women's tennis program this season, which is poised to make noise on the national scene after making a run to the NCAA Tournament each of the last four seasons.
"They're really fun," Wake Forest senior Lexi Franco said. " You'd think that as sisters they have their little arguments, but they work together really well. They're a lot of fun and I like them a lot."
Brothers Matthew and Peter played college tennis at St. Mary's and Boston College respectively. Their father, Mark Campana, played at UCLA.
And now sisters Carolyn and Anna are playing together at Wake Forest.
As for their mother, Adele? She often serves as family coach and referee.
"But she's biased toward my dad," Anna said.
"My family is really competitive and we all play tennis. We go after it on the court, but we play together (her and Carolyn) as doubles too. We like boys against girls, but we mix it up sometimes."
To Carolyn, there's little doubt who's at the top of the current Campana family rankings.
"Me," she said without hesitation. "My dad can still hang in there with me and Anna, but my brothers have fallen off the map."
Carolyn is in her sophomore season at Wake Forest, after transferring after one season at Vanderbilt. Anna has started her freshman campaign with the Deacs. They obviously know each other's game better than anyone else.
"It's definitely competitive," Carolyn said. "We're only a year and three months apart in age. Anna knows my game better than anybody and I know her game better than anybody. Anna is tough.
"We've played in a lot of national tournaments together and have won a lot of titles a pair. I am hopeful in the future that we will play together."
After a 6-1 win at William & Mary on Feb. 2, the Wake Forest women's tennis team has moved to 5-1 overall on the season. They began the season ranked before taking a loss in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend to now No. 12 Ohio State, and are still receiving votes, tho just outside the top 25. Carolyn is playing at the No. 2 doubles and No. 1 singles spot for the Deacs this season.
"They had great falls," Wake Forest coach Jeff Wyshner said. "Caroyln is a sophomore who played at Vanderbilt, where she had a great experience playing for a top-10 program. We're excited to get her here and had a fantastic fall with seven-or-eight nationally ranked wins, based on the preseason rankings.
"In one day, she beat the preseason eight and 18th-ranked players in the country. In a day. We're expecting a lot out of her. She's talented and great about going out on court every day and bringing it. She's not going to bring a sub-par effort."
Wyshner and his staff recruited Carolyn heavily out of high school, with both sisters coming together for a visit to Winston-Salem during the process.
"We tried really hard to get Carolyn when she was a junior in high school," Wyshner said. "We came really close, which is probably why she gave us another chance when she decided to transfer. During those visits with Carolyn, Anna was here. We were fortunate to have made a really good impression with Anna then. When Anna got into her junior year, she really impressed us."
Carolyn went 26-10 as a single competitor at Vanderbilt a season ago, rising to as high as No. 71 in the national rankings. Once she decided to look for a change of scenery, many thought Wake would end up being her ultimate destination, as by that time her sister Anna had already committed to the Deacs.
"A lot of people assumed I would come to Wake Forest, which was fair since Anna was committed here, but I didn't want to leave any stone unturned," Carolyn said. "I needed to make sure that was the right fit for me. I needed to find a place where I could develop my game to the fullest in my college experience. I had to give a chance to some other schools that were interested in me."
Wyshner said Carolyn was incredibly detailed in her second collegiate search — she was analytical, thorough and asked plenty of questions before coming to a decision.
"Anna was set here and signed, even before we knew Carolyn was going to transfer," he said. "Then Carolyn decided after NCAAs last year that she was going to transfer. She kept us on pins and needles for quite awhile. She went through an intense search.
"She had a lot of coaches visit her in San Francisco and considered a lot of options. But I think she really connected with our assistant coach Andy Roland. He's amazing at player development. I think he's one of the best in the country. Our players get better. We really pushed to her that the one-on-one work with Andy could help her get to where she wanted professionally."
Beyond the relationship with Roland, it was the academic rigor at Wake that was a big selling point to Carolyn.
"Wake has a great academic program," she said. "One day tennis will end, and you never know when that will happen. Being able to trust my coaches — they coaches dealt with a lot of questions during the transfer process to help make sure that this is what I'm looking for. They know what I want to work on and what I wanted to achieve at Wake. I know those things have a good chance of getting accomplished at Wake Forest.
"I had a great fall. One of my goals is to be an All-American at the end of this season. I'm on the right track with my singles ranking right now. Everything I've done so far is on the right track. I just need to put in the hard work and good things will come."
Anna was with her sister on her original visit to Wake Forest as a high schooler when she was offered by Wyshner.
"What if I went to Wake Forest?" Anna remembers thinking at the time.
Now they're both Demon Deacons.
"It's been amazing," Anna said. "We're like best friends. Carolyn knows me better than anyone. She's helping me adjust to college life, being away from home and managing the busy schedule."
Anna has been playing at the No. 3 or 4 singles spots in dual matches, going 2-0 so far this spring.
"Anna came in as a freshman and had a fantastic fall," Wyshner said. "She got an early ranked win, and established herself as someone we're going to rely on in the singles lineup."
Together, Carolyn and Anna Campana are helping make a positive impact on the Wake Forest women's tennis program this season, which is poised to make noise on the national scene after making a run to the NCAA Tournament each of the last four seasons.
"They're really fun," Wake Forest senior Lexi Franco said. " You'd think that as sisters they have their little arguments, but they work together really well. They're a lot of fun and I like them a lot."
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