Abilene High School - Flashlight Yearbook (Abilene, TX)

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'xx j f ryyiji - j ' it if. . ' 6' y i-.......: - -ig'T 'E'E ' . ff? A Hot One Over the Net TENNIS Doubtful as to their ability to play, Ioe C. Humphrey found that his Eagles were steady and dependable when they defeated Breckenridge in a series of matches on February 26. ln the first games Abilene won 3 to l. Rufus Sivley and George Steak- ley next defeated lack Cox and Earl Turner 6-2, 6-U. ln singles Sivley trounced joe Gray 6-2, 6-2. ln the junior division Chuck Francis and R. C. Rogers were defeated in a bitterly contested match 6-2, l-6, 7-6. The same week, in the matches with Cole- -----Y man, the junior teams proved that they did not always lose when Earl Hoppe defeated Sam Cobb, Coleman singles man, 6-8, 6-3, 6-2. ln the doubles Don Bowers and Langford Willhitt, Coleman, lost to Dick Star and Toni Burditt 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. On March l5 Abilene made a clean sweep of doubles matches and won all but one singles A v match in a five-way tournament at Sweetwater. 'V Other teams in the tournament besides Abilene and Sweetwater were Hamlin, Rotan, and Roby. George Steakley and Rufus Srvley, Abilenes Number One doubles team, downed Clark and Headstream of Roby 6-l, 6-3, and then took the matches with Hamlin's Number One doubles pair 6-3, 6-2. ln the feature skirmish of the day, Abilene's netters defeated the favored doubles team of Sweetwater with a brilliant court per- formance that showed all the striking points of a champion tennis team. With a long string of victories behind them, the Eagle netters turned to new competition in the form of the San Angelo teams. After some hard battles, the Eagles came out of the fight with more victories to their records. Mr. Humphrey's net- ters won the District and Regional doubles title and they will journey to State, where he ex- pects them to make a good showing. RUFUS SIVLEY Page107 w,r .w,, 41:-J I 1 View I, A

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First Row: Tommy Hill, lay Witbeck, Tom Burditt. Second Row: Ioe Humphrey, Iarnes Atkinson, Chuck Francis, james Cullar, Third Frow: George Steakley, Rufus Sivley, B. C, Rogers. TENNIS Thirty boys reported for tennis last fall, but this number was gradually reduced to the following five who did most of the competitive match playing: Rufus Sivley, George Steakley, Chuck Francis, B. C. Rogers, and Tom Hill. Usually only seniors are included on the senior teams, but this season Rufus Sivley and Tom Hill, juniors, were thought fit players for the senior division. Coached by Mr. Humphrey, the ten- nis teams played Stamford, Coleman, Mclviurry, Breckenridge, San Angelo, and Sweet- water without the loss of a game. They were defeated by Midland in a series of matches, but not before putting up a game fight. The interscholastic League rep- resentatives for Abilene tennis were Rufus Sivley and George Steakley, senior doubles, and Tom Hill, senior singles. Aided by the donation of the use of the tennis courts at North Eighth and Orange by Robert M. Wagstaff, and by the assistance of the Kiwanis Club, that donated money for the improvement of the courts, james Cullar, coach of the junior division, has given much attention to this division, the reason being that the 1939 team will prob- ably be built around these players. Outstanding junior players were Earl Hoppe, junior singles, and Tom Burditt, Dick Star, Wood Butler, lay Witbeck, and jimmy Atkinson, all contestants for the junior doubles team. Besides the regular practice and coaching, Fred Perry, world's amateur champion of 1935 and 1936 gave the teams some advice that only champions can give. The outstanding statements in the advice given were that in practice games players should not go on the court just to Win but to get practice and experience and net- ters should not burn themselves out early in their career, but should take their course leisurely until they have become experienced players. His advice was ac- cepted with enthusiasm. From the hard-working junior players of 1938 may be developed a record-brealo ing team of 1939. Page 106

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tan E 3 -vi s : no-ma First Row: Mary Dorn, Merlyn Mattes, Virginia Work, Laverne Baker. Second How: Lavon Baker, Constance Corrie, Marjorie Langdon, Monarae Schultz. TEN NIS A division of Abilene sports that has revived in interest this year is girls' tennis. Ten girls reported, but after eliminations, this number was reduced to six. Those doing most of the competitive playing were Lavon Baker, Laverne Baker, Constance Corrie, Merlyn Mattes, Virginia Work, Monarae Schultz, and Marjorie Langdon. From the very beginning, there was a scramble for posi- tions because all the girls were about evenly matched. ln the senior division, Monarae Schultz, Marjorie Langdon, and Virginia Work fought for the first singles position. These girls played Breckenridge with Monarae Schultz and Virginia Work playing doubles and Marjorie Langdon as singles representa- tive. When they played Coleman, this arrangement was changed with Mona- rae Schultz as singles representative and Marjorie Langdon and Virginia Work teamed for the doubles positions. The outstanding players in the junior divis ion were Laverne and Lavon Baker. These players did Well for the little prac- tice and experience they had had. They lost to both Breckenridge and Cole- man, but not before a clean, stiff battle. g These girl netters are loyal Eagles who really enjoyed the game that they strive so eagerly to perfect themselves in. There is an urgent need for a girls' division in the sports of Abilene High School. An idea seems to have grown up in the past years that girls should be eliminated from all forms of sports. That was certainly a strong reason Why girl netters were unable to set any records this season, although fine results were obtained for the little founda- tion that they had. lt is highly probable that a strong girls' tennis organization will be built around the fine material that was developed this season. 1 Lai Page 108