University of Minnesota Athletics
Bihel Living Her Dream
3/27/2017 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Story by student assistant Owen Mageau
Minneapolis, Minn. - Not only is Karyna Bihel an up and coming member of the University of Minnesota women's tennis team, she is also a first generation college student.
Ever since she was a young girl, Bihel has dreamed about playing tennis in college. Now, as a freshman at the University of Minnesota, she is seeing her dreams become reality and having a good time in the process.
The freshman was born in Russia and lived there until she was eight years old. Her family then moved to the United States, but before changing hemispheres, Bihel started to play the game she loves. Bihel stated "I've been playing tennis since I was four; my dad was the one who got me interested in tennis."
Her early years of tennis in Russia led her to develop a lifelong goal that she would bring with her to the United States. "Coming here my goal was always to play college tennis," Bihel said. Her dreams have now become her life as she has completed her first fall season and is in the midst of her spring season for the Gophers.
When asked how she thought her fall season went, Bihel responded by saying "I think it was amazing." She went on to say "Spending time with my team, starting to compete in tournaments, and being coached by Nick (Kavelaris) and Chuck (Merzbacher) has been awesome. I didn't play as well as I had hoped, but I gained a lot of experience."
During the fall season Bihel posted an 8-5 overall record in singles matches while going 5-6 in doubles with five different partners. In her last match, she defeated two student-athletes from Augustana, Taylor Jackson 6-1, 6-2 and Berkley Darr 6-1, 6-0. She is currently on a three-match win streak in singles.
It's important to remember that she is also in the later portions of her freshman year as a student. Bihel takes pride in this because of her status as a first generation college student. She stated "I am the first to go to college out of my family which is pretty exciting."
When asked how being the first member of her family to attend college affects her, she responded with "It puts pressure on me, not from my parents but from me." She went on to say "I definitely stress more about the fact that I'm still undecided on my major. I want to make sure I pick the right one and that I stay on top of my grades."
Attending college has also had an effect on Bihel's younger siblings. They have been looking to their older sister for guidance. "Ever since I went to college my brother has been asking me more about how to get in to college and what schools he should be looking at. My sister has started asking me about what majors she should be thinking about," said Bihel.
Bihel has been enjoying her time on campus, but she didn't realize how tough the transition to the life of a college athlete would be. "I knew it would be hard but I didn't realize how much work goes into it." Bihel went on to say "It's not just tennis, there is also school, extra tutoring, and missing classes for travel. I've had to learn how to balance all of this and how to manage my time effectively"
For Bihel, it wasn't hard to say what has been the best part of college so far. She said "meeting new people and making new friends has been the best part."
All the long hours of hard work have paid off for Bihel. She is currently living her dream and having a blast in the process.
Players Mentioned
