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Everett Center Ready to Showcase VWC Tennis Community
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. --- The opening of the new
Everett Tennis Center on the Virginia Wesleyan College campus
adjacent to the Batten Student Center, the first of a number of
planned modernizations of the College's outdoor athletic
facilities, provides a new home for the men's and women's tennis
teams as well a new space to be enjoyed by the entire campus
community.
Competition at the new complex resumes on Saturday, March 10, when
the VWC tennis teams host the Quakers of Guilford College at 2:00
pm. This marks the first Old Dominion Athletic Conference match at
the new Everett Tennis Center.
Established on the foundation of the Penzold Tennis Center –
named for Ted Penzold, a noted tennis instructor and promoter of
the game in Virginia – the Everett Tennis Center includes a
total of eight new courts, including two championship courts, two
lighted grandstand courts and four competition courts, along with
court fencing designed with California corners, stadium seating, a
gazebo, viewing stand and storage.
The new center is named after O.L. Everett, Chairman of the VWC
Board of Trustees, and his wife Carol, current President of the
Women of Wesleyan. It will feature new spectator-friendly fencing,
an upgraded lighting system on the grandstand courts, a welcome
gazebo, a viewing stand, a brick façade entrance and ample
seating for fans. The location of the center near the Batten
Student Center will also provide easy access to locker rooms, rest
rooms and all the amenities offered in the building.
"These courts will rival any in the Old Dominion Athletic
Conference (ODAC) and will send a great signal to future Marlins
that we take our tennis seriously at VWC," says VWC Athletic
Director Joanne Renn, who was the women's head tennis coach from
1995 through 1999. "We look forward to hosting tournaments with our
ODAC conference competitors, especially as we celebrate the
College's 50th Anniversary."
New Tennis Director Tom Drabczyk is the most enthusiastic about the
facility. “This complex instantly makes us competitive on a
national landscape in Division III. We are an ambitious program
with a facility to help us reach our goals,” say Drabczyk.
“We are looking to fully utilize this facility to promote
awareness of our program in the community and to take us
nationally.”
Great care has been taken in the design and construction of the
Everett Tennis Center to use materials, surfaces and plantings that
respect the environment in keeping with the College's overall
commitment to environmental sustainability. The existing trees and
shrubbery at the site have been kept in place to provide a wind
break and beautiful backdrop for the courts. Additional plantings
are a key element of the final design and construction.
A formal ribbon cutting event for the Everett Tennis Center is
being planned in the Fall of 2012 as part of the College's
50th anniversary celebration.
---AMDG---
