SAINT LEO, Fla. - The Saint Leo department of athletics launches a student-athlete spotlight, recognizing two student-athletes (one male and one female), who excelled in sport and/or in the classroom, each month. The first student-athletes selected for the spotlight are Lions men's tennis player,
Bruno Faletto, and women's soccer player,
Evelina Rosendahl.
Bruno Faletto started his journey at Saint Leo University with setting the standard of nearly a grand slam of awards, 2019 SSC Freshman of the Year, 2019 SSC First Team Singles, 2019 SSC Second Team Doubles, 2019 ITA All-American. Faletto experienced a setback his sophomore year, but fully recovered and continued to strive on the court. His effort and determination through conditioning and practices are nothing short of a true Lion.
This past season, due to a shortened campaign from the CoVID-19 Pandemic, Faletto's main highlight was clinching the double point with partner
Nicolas Bacella (7-6) to help lift then-no. 5 Saint Leo over then-no. 7 Flagler in the season opener last spring. During the season, he continued to do the best for the tennis program as he stepped in as the third coach during matches, leading to the teams success of being ranked as high as 4th in the country.
Evelina Rosendahl is the prime example of a Saint Leo student-athlete. She stands out academically and on the field. Rosendahl has grown as an athlete and a person over her time here at Saint Leo. She puts the team's needs before her own and gives her everything in practice, games, school, and life. She sets a real example of leadership, determination, and love for the game of soccer.
During the 2019 season, she helped guide the team to 7-9-1 record overall with a mark of 4-6 in the Sunshine State Conference, including an season opening win of 1-0 over then-no. 13 Mississippi College at home. The defender competed in all 17 games with two shots in 1,356 minutes of action throughout the season.
- Name: Bruno Faletto
- Sport: Tennis
- Hometown: Santiago, Chile
- Major: Business Marketing
- Minor: Business Management
- Year: 2022, anticipated graduation
- Get to know more about Bruno
- What is your favorite movie? My favorites movies are Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Troy (2004), and Scarface (1983)
- What is your favorite meal? Steak without any doubts. BBQ's are just an every weekend tradition in Chile.
- What was the last book you read? The last book I read was "Winning Ugly: Brad Gilbert"
- Who is your favorite person you follow on social media? Without any doubts, Jennifer Aniston. She has been my crush since I was 12 or so. Fun fact about this is, that back in the day, I used to watch the show friends with my mom every night. My mum would always say "you only watch this show because of Rachel (Jennifer Anniston).
- If you could change one rule about your sport, what would it be? Well, I would change the fact that in college tennis for some reason there is no net, which means that if the person who is serving touches the net with the ball but goes in, you have to play the point. This does not happen in the actual regular tennis rules, as this rule only applies for college tennis.
- If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you ask them? I would choose to meet Bill Gates just a little bit earlier before he founded Microsoft. Then, I would persuade him and say "I believe in your project, you want to be partners?"
- Who/What got you interested in your sport and when did you start playing? I first got interested in tennis because my mom used to put it on TV a lot when I was around the age of seven or so. As a kid I was curious, so I was always asking her how you play tennis, so she explained to me and I got interested on it right away. Then, as my father saw that I wanted to hit some balls, we started playing tennis in the street, just to hit the ball and have fun. We did this for 3 months before I joined a tennis academy. Also, my uncle Robinson Ureta (my mom's brother) was a professional tennis player in the 80s with a career high of 250 in the world, so this was another reason that kept me in tennis. However, I did not know that he was a professional tennis player until I started playing.
- If you weren't playing your sport, what other sport would you want to play at the college level? The other sport that I would like to play at the college level is soccer, since I played both tennis and soccer until the age of twelve. Soccer is the most popular sport in South America, everyone plays it, so the level is very high. As a kid I liked more soccer than tennis; however, I always saw it more as a hobby.
- A favorite quote that you live by? Hard work pays off.
- What do you hope to do after graduating? I really see myself working in the marketing department of a company, so right now I am aiming to be businessman. However, it all depends because in the tennis world I already have good opportunities as a coach, so maybe work in that until I make it in a good company.
- Name: Evelina Rosendahl
- Sport: Soccer
- Hometown: Åsa, Sweden
- Major: Economics
- Minor: International Finance
- Year: 2022, anticipated graduation
- Get to know more about Evelina
- What is your favorite movie? My favorite movie of all time is the Pursuit of Happiness
- What is your favorite meal? Sushi!!!!!
- What was the last book you read? Last book I read was "The obstacle is the way" by Ryan Holiday.
- What's it like being from Sweden and coming to school in Florida? Being from Sweden and coming to school in Florida is definitely a big change in the weather, I get to see the sun way more. At first it was a big adjustment speaking my second language, but coming here also gave me a new home and a new family.
- Who is your favorite person you follow on social media? Right now it's my mom because she posts pictures of my puppy at home, but other than that it is the @saintleolions of course.
- If you could change one rule about your sport, what would it be? I would get rid of the golden goal I do not see the point of the "sudden death" after overtime. Cause of the golden gold, teams play defensive in overtime to then rely on the golden gold.
- If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you ask them? This is a hard one; I honestly think it would be really cool meeting Einstein. However, I think my first pick would be Puyol since he has been someone I've looked up to for a long time.
- Who/What got you interested in your sport and when did you start playing? Growing up I played golf and tennis, but then we moved to a new town when I was 10 and soccer was the big game. All of my friends were playing soccer, so I tried it and was stuck ever since. Growing up I would play soccer with my brother every day.
- If you weren't playing your sport, what other sport would you want to play at the college level? I would want to play tennis.
- A favorite quote that you live by? "In a world where you can be anything, be kind"
- What do you hope to do after graduating? After I graduate, I want to get my masters and continue playing soccer as long as I can.
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