Forth! And fear no darkness!: On the Prowl

By Winn Erkroskort, Ova Hedsmash, and Twee Ners

Carolina schools beware: there’s a new cat on the prowl, and they’re mighty hungry.

Davidson College’s club tennis program has risen from the ashes. Current President Jack Peterson is at the heart of this movement, but refuses to receive any undue credit.

“I wasn’t really around for the genesis of this revival,” Peterson said in an interview with the Charlotte Observer last week. “Jay Lanners Jr. really launched this thing, and he had a lot of help from my junior captains, Mark Angel and Lucy McMurry. I’m just picking up where they left off.”

Mr. Lanners has since moved on to bigger and better things, but says he won’t forget his roots. In an email from Argentina he told us, “Davidson College was a big part of my life, and no part was bigger than Klub Varsity Tennis.”

Ah yes - Klub Varsity Tennis. The name is just as important as the movement itself. While at Davidson Klub Varsity Tennis (KVT) is making a revival, it may also be reshaping the club tennis scene among small schools in general. The spark seen from KVT’s enthusiasm (spelling club and cats with a "k" and partially claiming the title of varsity, among other examples) is helping to lift other area programs to be more motivated and active as well, such as Furman University, High Point, and even Wake Forest. It is a growth that is unnerving to some of the bigger, more established programs.

“Davidson gave us a run at sectionals last year, and they’re still growing and bringing other contenders up to,” said a girl from College of Charleston who asked to remain unnamed. “Some of the schools think it’s just a fad, but others of us want to make sure we aren’t overtaken.”

Duke, Peterson tells us, is one of those schools that thinks smaller programs are just a fad. “I can’t use the words I would normally use to describe them in an official interview, but they slighted us pretty bad the last couple semesters. We’re not holding a grudge; we’d just like to get the opportunity to actually play them and have them take us seriously. Other schools have been much more accommodating, and far less egotistical – we’ve had a great relationship with NC State for the past few years, and that has just grown stronger.”

One of the junior captains, Lucy, is already in New Zealand training for the next semester, but we were unable to reach her for this article. Mark was polite enough to give us a brief statement in the middle of his busy day, saying, “It’s remarkable the recovery we’ve had in the last couple years. I can’t wait to see where it goes next spring when I get back from my training abroad.”

Certainly, the two newly elected sophomore captains are more than excited about the coming semester.

“It’s going to be so fun to be involved in something that’s garnering so much attention,” says Anne Meredith Baldy – the women’s team’s number one player last year. Steven Keller followed her statement by telling us that he “couldn’t wait to get back out there on the court” after suffering a knee injury last spring.

When asked about KVT’s goals, Peterson was fairly straightforward.

“Our goal is to qualify for nationals next spring. It’s a lofty goal, but it is also one we think we can achieve. We lost a couple of quality starters in last year’s class, but our sophomore class this year is very good. It’s going to come down to how much energy we can keep flowing through the program, and whether or not we can keep interest levels high. I think we can do it. It will be tough if we lose a player to the varsity team, but I’m excited to see what this new freshman class brings in. We were fortunate enough to secure the #4 male recruit in the country this year. We lost a couple people, including myself, to injuries last spring. We hope we can keep interest levels high throughout the year. And there’s always the possibility of picking up a player who decides to leave a varsity team. We’ve got plenty of hope.”

As far as predictions, Peterson simply smiled.

“I’m not one to make predictions, especially before I’ve seen what I’m working with. I can tell you this though – we won’t go into any matches expecting to lose.”

KVT can be contacted by emailing DavidsonKlubTennis@gmail.com, and you can follow them on Twitter at @DC_KlubTennis.