ROLLINS WOMEN'S TENNIS HISTORY 

Women's tennis has long been one of the most successful and high profile sports at Rollins College. The first tennis courts were built on the campus in 1895, and the school began playing intercollegiate women's tennis in 1939. In the proceeding 58 years, the program has produced scores of national champions, top-ranked players and champions of such prestigious tournaments as Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.

The Rollins tennis player of today is following in the footsteps of some of the top performers in women's tennis history.

Pauline 'Bobbie' Betz Addie '43 was a four-time U.S. National Champion and the 1946 Wimbledon Champion. Shirley Fry Irvin '49 claimed both the U.S. National Championship (now the U.S. Open) and the Wimbledon Championship. Dorothy Bundy Cheney '45 was champion of the Australian Open and has continued her career by winning more than 170 national senior titles. Betty Rosenquest Pratt '47 was a Wimbledon semifinalist.

Other prominent Tar alums who went on to enjoy standout professional careers include Nancy Corse Reed '69, Wendy Overton and Mona Schallau Guerrant '71. Reed has won 62 national titles and her world ranking reached as high as #16. Guerrant and Overton were both members of the prestigious U.S. Wightman Cup and both held world rankings in the top 10 during their careers.

Many of Rollins top standouts competed under the guidance of longtime head coach Virginia 'Ginny' Mack. As coach of the Tars from 1962-1986, Mack coached 16 future professional players while compiling a 305-125 dual match record. Among the players coached by Mack were Margie Cooper '72, current Tar head coach Bev Buckley '75, Nancy Yeargin Furman '77, Wendy White Prausa '82 and Mary Dinneen '87.

The Rollins tennis program has continued its great tradition in recent years under the guidance of Bev Buckley. The Tars' remained competitive at the Division I level before moving to Division II in 1993. In 1995 Rollins reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division II National Championship for the first time.' They again advanced to the National Semifinals in 2000 and have since reached as far as the quarterfinals.

It was a banner year for Rollins in 2004 when the Tars boasted both the Freshman of the Year in Tasi Purcell, and the Player of the Year in Vanessa Caddick. Caddick finished the season as the No. 3 ranked Singles and Doubles player across all schools in Division II. After a productive season in 2004, Purcell would go on to have an illustrious career as well. In addition to a myriad of accolades, including Conference Player of the Year, Purcell received the Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship in 2006. This award is presented to student-athletes who exhibit outstanding sportsmanship and leadership in the classroom and on the court. 

Purcell's contributions at Rollins College do not end there, however, After returning to the team as an assistant coach beginning in 2017, the same year she was inducted into the Rollins College Hall of Fame, Purcell Batista was named the head coach for women's tennis in 2024. 

Since Purcell's senior year in 2007, under the continued guidance Bev Buckley, the Tars made six more consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2008-2014. Over that time Rollins placed six individuals on the All-SSC First Team, along with three doubles teams, and in 2011, Kayli Ragsdale added a South Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award to the list of player honors under Buckley. The tournament streak end in 2014, but when it was all said and done, Rollins had reached the NCAA Tournament for 20 straight seasons. In 2018, Rollins Katie Dyson was named to the All-SSC Team. 

In December of 2020, Buckley received the ITA Meritorious Service Award. The season marked her 34th year as head coach of the Tars and at the time of the award, Buckley sat 7th on the list of all-time coaching wins in Division II. In 2021, doubles pair Alexandra Borg and Georginia Groth were 1st Team All-Americans. Borg and Groth were both three time All-Conference performers. In 2023, Katie Groves was awarded the ITA South Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship award while assistant at the time, Tasi Purcell Batista, was named ITA South Regional Assistant Coach of the Year. Purcell Batista takes over Rollins after Buckley's 38th years at the helm. Buckley achieved over 530 wins in her career,  20 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 1994-2014, two Top 4 team finishes at the NCAA Championships, two NCAA Singles Champions (Stacy Moss, 1994 and Angie Zguna, 2001), and 22 All-Americans. As impressive as she was on the court, Buckley set a standard off of it as well. The Tars have had a member on the ITA All-Academic Team each year since its creation in 2013. 

Pauline Betz-Addie ('43) *U.S. National' (4 time) & Wimbledon Champion  *1995 Inductee into ITA Collegiate Hall of Fame Dorothy Bundy Cheney ('45) *Australian Open Champion  *Has won 170 National Senior Titles  *1998 Inductee into ITA Collegiate Hall of Fame Betty Rosenquest Pratt ('47) *Semifinalist at Wimbledon Shirley Fry Irvin ('49) *U.S. National and Wimbledon Champion  *1995 Inductee into ITA Collegiate Hall of Fame Nancy Corse Reed ('55) *Has won 62 national titles  *Held world ranking of #16 Wendy Overton ('69)' *U.S. Wightman Cup Team  *World Top Ten Ranking Mona Schallau Guerrant ('71) *World Top Ten Ranking  *U.S. Wightman Cup Team Bev Buckley ('75) *Women's Professional Tour (1975-79) Nancy Yeargin Furman ('77) *1977 AIAW All-American Felicia Hutnick ('79) *1978 AIAW All-American Nancy Neviaser ('81) *1979 & 1980 AIAW All-American Wendy White ('82) *1979 & 1980 AIAW All-American  *1980 AIAW National Singles Champion Vickie Nelson ('85) *1981 NCAA All-American Jennifer Goodling ('85) *1983 NCAA All-American Mary Dineen ('87) *1985 & 1986 NCAA All-American Stacy Moss ('95) 1994 Division II National Champion, All-American Singles & Doubles, Rolex Collegiate All-Star, 1993 Rolex National Champion, 1994 SSC Female Athlete of the Year, 1994 Rollins Female Athlete of the Year, 1994 SSC Double Champion, 1st-Team All-SSC doubles Christie LeMieux ('97) * Two-time All-American in singles and doubles (1995 & 1997), 1997 SSC Player of the Year,  two-time All-SSC,  Anzela Zguna ('01) * Two-time All-American, Two-time All-SSC, Rolex National Champion, NCAA "Senior Player of the Year", #1 ranked player in NCAA Division II Vanessa Caddick ('04)   3-time ITA All-America 4-straight NCAA South Region Tournaments 2004 No. 3 Ranked Singles and Doubles in Nation SSC Player of the Year 4-time All-Sunshine State Conference Tasi Purcell ('07)   3-time ITA All-America 4-time All-Sunshine State Conference SSC Freshman of the Year SSC Player of the Year ITA National Senior Player of the Year Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship