Cedarville Magazine, Spring/Summer 2016

Cedarville Magazine | 45 Meade added, “I’m especially humbled to come in after a Cedarville legend and icon, John McGillivray ’70, who’s someone I’ve looked up to for many years. He really impacted me as a young coach and even when I played in college.” Meade led ODU to a record-setting 15-5-1 record in 2014. The Panthers won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title and achieved a bid in the NCAA Tournament. Meade is a 1995 graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene University where he was a four-year letter winner on the men’s soccer team. He coached his alma mater from 2000–08 posting a 134-61-7 record, including a 20-3-1 slate in 2003 Morris Creates Legacy for Christ in Tennis and Her Players’ Lives by Mark Womack ’82 “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). Cedarville University women’s tennis coach Dee Morris is a walking example of that verse. Since being the recipient of what those words command, she in turn has taken what she was taught and desires to honor the Lord by influencing others — especially her players, or, her “kids,” as she affectionately calls them. Morris has stayed the course for nearly six decades, and she isn’t finished yet. Talk about leaving a legacy! New Sport Louise Delyte Morris had never touched a tennis racket until she arrived at Geneva College as a freshman in 1955. That’s where she was introduced to a godly woman named Doris Nevin. “I was an assistant to her throughout college,” recalled Morris. “She was amentor, taught me life lessons, andwas a friend for the 52 years I knew her following graduation. I created a scholarship for students at Cedarville in her name because I wanted to honor her.” “I want my players to experience the fun of competition, the fellowship of being part of a team, and to know they can be, as Doris Nevin taught me, a strong, fierce competitor and still be a godly woman at the same time.” Assistant Coach Morris has been associated with the Lady Jacket tennis program since 1977 when good friend Pamela Diehl Johnson took over as head coach, and Morris served as her assistant for 30 years. In 2007, their roles reversed when Morris became the Head Coach, and Johnson assumed the title of Associate Head Coach. For 40 seasons, Cedarville has won more than 65 percent of its tennis matches while piling up 11 conference championships, 11 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics district and region titles, and multiple national tournament appearances. “Dee loves to win as much as the next coach,” stated Johnson, Cedarville’s Dean of Undergraduate Studies. “But, her players remember that she cared for them as a person more so than as a tennis player. When you build others up for just being people of God then everything comes along with that, and it becomes a tremendous experience for the entire team.” Three Sisters Current and former Lady Jacket players, practically to a woman, describe an identical experience at Cedarville that they will never forget. One recent and unique example is that of the three Heydt sisters — Courtney, Kristen, and Kendall — who had the opportunity to be on the same Cedarville roster during the 2014–15 conference championship season. “When I met Dee for the first time, I knew I wanted to play for her,” said Courtney (Heydt) Ammon ’15, who was a 2015 National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) All-American as a senior. “Her love for Jesus was evident in all of her decisions.Through our weekly Bible studies she listened to us, taught us, and poured into our personal lives.” “She cares so much about us and is always there to help us improve not only as tennis players, but more importantly, as people,” noted Kristen ’18. Her sister Kendall ’18 agreed. “It is so clear that Coach Morris’ top priority on and off the court is showing Jesus’ love to not only her team, but to all of her students and colleagues as well.” MarkWomack ’82 is Sports Information Director at Cedarville University.