By Alexa Lima
Armed with just a tennis racquet and an outsized love for her students, Susan Reasons has fought a tightly strung 20-year battle for the survival of Southwestern’s women’s tennis team.
She will soon ride into the sunset victorious—game, set, match.
Reasons said she is thrilled with the plans for a new tennis facility.
She predicts the community will be happy, too.
“The new tennis court will be really nice,” she said. “The courts we have right now are really, really old from the sixties. They are literally falling apart.”
Reasons assured she meant the 1960s, though the tennis courts, in the right light, look like they could be from the Civil War era. There are cracks, holes and uneven spots that seem neglected as a backcountry road.
Construction of the new Tennis Center began last month. It will include 10 new courts with a support building with restrooms, showers, locker rooms and open grassy areas with shaded seating for viewers. It will be used for tennis classes, team practice, matches and pickle ball classes—at least as long as the fad lasts. Crews are clearing parking lots E and G as well as the old Grounds building 48 C.
College officials said the center will take about 10 months to complete. Reasons said she hopes it is ready for the 2024 women’s tennis season.
Head tennis coach for nearly 30 years, Reasons said the new center is a gratifying development after spending most of her career fighting for tennis and women’s athletics. Women’s tennis was eliminated by a previous college president for a year before Reasons successfully fought to bring it back.
Men’s tennis was not as fortunate, sacrificed at the altar of a redeveloped football stadium.
“We should write a movie, no one would believe it!” Reasons said. “At least our film has a happy ending.”
Evelyn Potter, a first-year tennis player on the women’s team, said she and her teammates are excited about the project.
“I think it is wonderful to have new tennis courts,” she said. “We really need them due to how uneven the ground is. It really does change the game and the direction of the ball.”
Team captain Anna Ilusorio agreed.
“I feel thrilled to have new tennis courts to practice and play on,” she said. “We probably would not have lasted another year with the old courts we have now.”
Director of Facilities Aurora Ayala said the original tennis courts will become a parking lot and perhaps future student housing.
“We needed to build the Grounds office first to move it to its new facility in order for us to (use) the area for tennis courts,” she said.
Reasons said the investment the college is making in the Tennis Center shows that it values women athletes.
“Maybe I can finally stop worrying about the women’s team getting cut,” she said. “A new era is about to begin.”
Rendering Courtesy of SC