Meet Nico Riego de Dios

Most would agree that winter in Cheney, Wash., is pretty darn cold, but when you're coming from the Philippines, a sultry cluster of islands in southeast Asia, it's downright glacial.

Eastern tennis player Nico Riego de Dios recollects his experience of arriving in the Inland Northwest just under two years ago in the dead of winter, when the ground was frozen solid and winds howled across the West Plains.

It was a harsh transition from his home in Olongapo City. "It's like Hawaii, with weather in the 90s and humid; so when I came here it was a huge adjustment," said de Dios.

His struggle to acclimate was compounded by an injury he suffered in the first weeks of his stay. "I stretched for a ball and I tore a muscle in my groin," said the sophomore. "It was probably because of the weather, because I came here in December and it was snowing outside. I just wasn't used to it."

De Dios said his trainers called it "sports hernia," a condition that required surgery and a four-week recuperation. He credits the care he received with a relatively short recovery time.

"They took care of me, the trainers," he said. "In the Philippines they don't have trainers to take care of us."

De Dios recalls his surprise at the sport's popularity when he first came to the U.S. to compete in a tennis tournament at the age of 16. Back home, he says, boxing and basketball are the two major pastimes. "Basketball is a big sport even though nobody is really tall enough." At 5-feet-10-inches tall," de Dios himself is well above the average 5' 4" height of a Filipino man, but basketball was never his passion.

His parents, who own a restaurant and operate a poultry farm in Olongapo City, raised him to love the sport from an early age. "My parents were both playing tennis and ever since I was 5 they started teaching me," he said. He kept with the game and has competed in numerous national and international tournaments.

The area he grew up in, de Dios said, provided a "perfect place for tennis and doing conditioning on the beach. It's not polluted in my city, unlike some other parts of the Philippines where it's congested."

While a student at Olongapo City National High School, de Dios was able to visit the U.S. every year for three months in order to participate in various tennis competitions. "June to August in the Philippines is rainy season, so we don't have any tournaments there, but it's summer here so there are tournaments everywhere."

It was while competing in a tournament in Tacoma, Wash., that former Eastern tennis coach Patrick Dreves recognized de Dios's budding potential. "He offered me a scholarship and I grabbed it," said de Dios. This pays for his tuition and meals while he plays tennis and works toward a degree in exercise science.

After graduation, he'd like to get a master's degree in physical therapy while working with the Eastern tennis program in order to continue helping his team in another capacity.

He makes it clear that tennis isn't the only thing driving him. In March, he earned accolades as a scholar-athlete from the Eastern athletics department for his consistent 3.37 grade point average as well as his abundant wins on the court.

"One of the reasons I came here was the academics," said de Dios. "For example, if we have a meet, they're lenient to us; they give us extra time to finish homework and are supportive. I just love the way the academic system is here."

In early April, de Dios was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week and just last week he was one of three Eastern tennis players to be honored by the Big Sky Conference as members of its All-Conference teams.

His enthusiasm for the game shines through as he shares why he loves tennis. "It's challenging," he said. "You're playing with another guy and you never know what's going to happen. It's not going to be routine; you're going up against different people and different plays all the time."

De Dios relishes the fact that he's had so many opportunities to play while at Eastern. "I've played 60 matches this year and back in the Philippines I would have played that in, like, three years, so I'm pretty thankful and I'm very happy that I'm here."

Despite Cheney's persistent chill this spring, de Dios seems to have found a second home. When asked what he misses most about the Philippines, he instantly replied, "The food."

He practically salivates as he tells of his favorite meal - sinigang, which he describes as "pork soup with lettuce and beans."

"We have a fish sauce to blend with that particular dish," said de Dios. "I miss that so bad because there's no Filipino community here. I'm probably one of the only students on the whole campus."

Far from being lonesome, however, de Dios seems to fit in well with his team and has played an integral part in Eastern's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championship. As the squad lines up to face UCLA on May 10, de Dios is looking forward to meeting the challenge alongside his close-knit teammates.

Along with the coaching staff, they figure highly on the list of why he's here. He shrugs as if it goes without saying before expressing his appreciation. "I love my teammates, they support me."