Player Profile: Meredith Massey
Reddie Takes the Court With Pride
Cameron Magee
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: Sports
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With one last year ahead of her college tennis experience, Massey is thankful to have had such a great season with her teammates.
Massey attended high school at Edmond Memorial High School in Edmond, Okla., but she was born in Arkadelphia.
"My dad used to be the football coach at Henderson," said Massey.
After moving to Oklahoma, she joined the junior high tennis team in seventh grade.
Massey was set on joining the school athletic program, but unsure about which division to settle into.
"My dad had a really good friend who owned a tennis club," said Massey.
"I went out there and began taking private lessons."
With no influences from her parents or sister, she joined the school tennis team, becoming the first tennis player in her household.
After playing throughout high school, Massey met some Henderson girls at a tournament who encouraged her to consider settling at Henderson.
After touring the campus, Massey enrolled at Henderson in the fall of 2006 and joined the tennis team.
Massey was awarded an academic scholarship and given partial funding from the tennis team.
"Basically whatever the scholarship doesn't cover, the tennis program takes care of," said Massey.
Massey plays on the Henderson team with pride.
"We had a really great season," said Massey.
Massey attributed the success to the girls on the team and the friendships they had built with each other.
College tennis is divided up into two sides: East and West.
Henderson is part of the West, Gulf-South conference.
The season begins in February and ends in April.
To compete, different schools come together and play in tournaments.
"Sometimes we'll just go play one school," said Massey.
"But games are typically part of tournaments." In a tournament, six games make a set and three sets make a match.
Scoring is based on majorities; winning two out of three sets wins the match.
With nine total matches, a school has to win at five to win overall.
The Henderson team includes seven girls and one coach.
The girls' coach, Brenda Joiner, has been with Henderson for more than 15 years, with this being the most successful season yet.
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