Growing up with Moraine Valley

Although their tennis experience started with tears on the court, it’s been nothing but smiles ever since freshmen Marietta and Tamera Farraj learned how to wield a racquet.

Moraine Valley has been formative in Marietta and Tamera’s lives since they were toddlers. Residents of Hickory Hills, their parents brought them to the nearby Moraine Valley tennis courts with racquets half their size to expose the girls to a variety of activities.

“From a young age, we encouraged Tamera and Marietta to participate in several different sports. They always enjoyed playing tennis and soccer, which they both played all four years at Stagg High School,” said the twins’ parents Moses and Lori Farraj. “Tennis is a sport we could play as a family. We have great memories of bringing them to the Moraine Valley courts for a little fresh air and family time. When we started, they weren’t much bigger than their racquets.”

There were some tears on the court in those early days as the twins learned the sport, but it didn’t stop the family from returning to campus. Moses, who was born in Jordan, took English classes at Moraine Valley while Lori, a native Chicagoan, taught computer courses and enrolled in Arabic classes. When they were eight years old, Marietta and Tamera participated in the annual summer camps at the Health, Fitness & Recreation Center (FitRec). While in high school, they were multi-sport athletes and became junior counselors at the FitRec. It all came full circle when the duo enrolled at Moraine Valley during fall 2025, joined the women’s tennis team and became employed at the FitRec.

“I never realized how close we were to the college,” Marietta said.

“It was just the FitRec building to us,” Tamera added.

In high school, Marietta and Tamera only played doubles tennis due to the massive number of athletes on the team, so playing singles and doubles during the same season on Moraine Valley’s squad of six was a pleasant change.

“This season made me love tennis even more. There were 50 players on the JV team in high school and 20 or 30 on varsity,” Marietta explained.

“I love that there was only six of us this season because it was more of a community. There was time for us each to practice and do drills,” Tamera added. “Now playing singles and doubles, we needed more endurance.”

They put in the hard work, building strength to play more tennis matches, and it paid off. Marietta at No. 5 singles and Tamera at No. 6 singles each went undefeated this season in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference, earning All-Conference championships. The duo also finished runners-up at No. 3 doubles in the NJCAA Region 4 Tournament.

They did well individually, but being identical twins has helped their doubles tennis game, of course.

“I really like being Marietta’s partner because we can yell at each other,” Tamera laughed.

“And we’re usually thinking the same thing on the court,” Marietta added. “I feel like I can be myself.”

“And you don’t have to apologize, and we have codes, or we’ll sing to each other on the court,” Tamera interjected.

“Random stuff we can’t do with anyone else,” Marietta finished.

And those early days of tears on the court? Those growing pains transformed into smiles.

“Tennis is unpredictable. You can hit the ball anywhere; it’s never boring,” Marietta explained. “During one match this season, even though [the opponent] hit it to both corners, I was smiling. I wanted it to keep going. I laugh and smile every point.”

“Same,” Tamera smiled.