By Kim J. Harmon

Diana Perachio, 17, has been standing at a crossroads in her life for some time now, trying to determine which way she wanted to take a tennis career she had been fostering since she was five years old, hitting balls off the side of the house.

On the left was the road towards a life in professional tennis – a long, hard and narrow road she knew could be filled with all sorts of pressure. On the right was the road to a life in collegiate tennis – a far different, much smoother road filled with all sorts of different avenues to explore.

It was not a hard choice to make.

But it was with a sigh of relief that Diana, a senior at Newtown High School, took the road to the right earlier this month when she signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Division I Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

“I did want to become professional,” said Diana, who played with the Newtown High School girls’ tennis team as a freshman and sophomore, “but it seems like so much work and I’m not sure I wanted to have so much pressure on me. From what I saw (of the Marist team), I think the girls are more relaxed and there isn’t so much pressure on them – and I love that.”

And coach Peter Angarola, currently in his first year as coach of the Marist College women’s tennis team, loved what he saw when he made the trip down from Poughkeepsie to scout Diana as she played a match with her brother, Jon, at the Middlebury Racquet Club.

“I was originally going to go to UConn,” Diana admitted, “and Marist sort of came up at the last minute. I like coach Angarola because he reminds me a lot of Kenyon (Clark, her private coach) – he has that sort of inspiration.”

Ever since she picked up a racquet 12 years ago, Diana has been focussed on tennis. She started playing USTA junior tournaments when she was 10 years old – traveling pretty much all over New England and finding a lot of success along the way. Still, about two years ago, as she reached high school, her play reached an even higher level.

She attributed a lot of that to Kenyon Clark of Washington Depot – her coach.

“He gave me a new perspective on tennis,” she said, “and he gave me a lot of inspiration.”

Diana was the No. 1 singles player on the Newtown High School girls’ tennis team as a freshman and a sophomore and won two consecutive South-West Conference championships along the way. As a sophomore, she did not lose a set during the entire SWC season.

But heading into her junior year at Newtown High, she decided to forgo high school tennis and concentrate on the USTA circuit.

“At my level,” she said, “there was no one I could really play against. And at practice, I don’t think I was helping myself enough. My game would slip a little and then I had to work harder to get it back up.”

So she continued with her tournament schedule – playing about one a month when she had the opportunity. It would have seemed that exposure might have been an issue, but she had already made enough of an impact that a lot of colleges sent her information, trying to interest her in playing tennis for them.

But she is a different player now.

Coach Angarola saw that at the Middlebury Racquet Club.

“I think he has a much clearer view of me and how I am as a player now,” said Diana.

Marist College runs a fall and spring schedule of tournament and team tennis. Early workouts and practices six days a week will keep Diana (who is thinking of pursuing a career in psychology or child psychology) busy as she acclimates herself to a different, higher level of competition.

But she is looking forward to it . . . because, well, Marist should be pretty darned good next year. Amanda Doetsch, the No. 1 tennis player in New Jersey, committed to Marist College back in November during the early signing period.

“I think (coach) is excited,” said Diana, “because he’s recruited a new team – building his own team.”