For junior tennis star Alicia Williams, the formula for success was the perfect blend of discipline, determination, motivation and sacrifice. During the 2007 tennis season,Williams received numerous awards for both her performance on and off the court. She was named to the First-Team All-Gulf South Conference, Academic All-GSC, and to ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VI Team for the second consecutive year. She had it all — brains, brawn and, according to her teammates, a heart of gold as well. “Alicia is such a hard working member of our team,”junior Amanda Nowlin said. “She is more concerned about her teammates than herself always! If someone is having a bad day at practice, she goes out of her way to make them feel better even if it means not finishing a match.” Williams, an exercise science major from Greenville, Mississippi, with a 3.84 GPA, said despite her success on the court and in the classroom, she was not a natural born athlete or student. “I’m sort of what you would call a self-made athlete and self-made student,” Williams said. “I definately wasn’t born with the genes for either one of those things. But I think discipline is the main thing. You have to have a will to do something. If you are passionate about it, you can do anything you want in life.” According to her teammates,Williams was much more to them than just a teammate. She was a friend, too. She went out of her way to try and encourage other members of the team in all areas of college life. “She is always there to help, encourage or just listen,” Nowlin said. “When any person on the team is sick or having a test, she sends us text messages of encouragement or goes out of her way to make you feel better.” On the court, Williams made a name for herself during her time at Harding and had impressed the Lady Bisons tenured coach David Elliot. Elliott said she was one of the best athletes Harding had ever had and was liked by just about everyone on the team. “She is an outstanding player,” Elliot said. “She is a very competitive, determined player. She is the best we have ever had at the number one position. All the right things you could say about someone, you can say about Alicia.” Though tennis was a large part of Williams’college life, she said her education had always been the most important, and she said she believed academics should always come first. “Student before athlete!” Williams said. “Sometimes the better students are the better athletes, and a lot of it has to do with your mind and the way you look at things. I don’t really believe its so mush how talented you are, but if you are conscientious student there is a pretty good chance you will be a conscientious athlete as well.” [Heather Browning] Tennis star shines on court and in classroom During an April 4, 2007 match against the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, junior Karina Gomes prepares to return a serve using her backhand. Gomes was named to the 2007 All-Gulf South Conference 1st Team for the second consecutive year. [Craig Rainbolt] Discipline [women’s tennis] 267
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