Editor’s Note: Staff writer Kristina Patterson is a member of the “Mean Girls” tennis team.
It’s 7 a.m. on a Thursday morning. Fog is rolling in from the marine layer. Birds are just beginning to chirp in the trees. In the distance, there is the faint sound of a tennis ball bouncing off the strings of a racket.
The fall semester Point Loma Nazarene University Psychology Department tennis tournament has begun.
Every week of the academic school year, students and faculty from the psychology department gather on the tennis courts to build community, have fun and show off their tennis skills.
After a faculty and teacher’s assistant tennis tournament almost 20 years ago, conversation circulated about making it more inclusive to the whole department, and a new tradition was born.
Kim Schaeffer, a PLNU psychology professor, has been organizing this tennis tournament since 2004. Because he is currently on sabbatical, he’s handed over the more technical responsibilities to Rosemond Lorona, another psychology professor. Both Schaeffer and Lorona come together every week to play tennis with students.
“There is only one place in the world that this happens on a college campus,” Schaeffer said, “and it’s here at Point Loma Nazarene University in the psychology department.”
Schaeffer, also known as “Schaeff-Dog” due to his frequent appearance in his dog costume at the tournament, and his team “Thee Top Dogs” are currently in first place and will be advancing to the final round.
Eight teams have been showing up to play in the fall tournament for the past four weeks, where there are beginner leagues for those who have never played before, and an advanced league for those more experienced.
During the tournament catwalk on Oct. 17, each team came up with a team name, a dance or a skit and everyone wore group costumes. Players formed a line on either side of the runway and cheered as each team performed. Afterward, everyone voted through a Google Form and chose their top three teams for each category – “Best Team Name,” “Best Catwalk” and “Best Costume.”
First place this semester in all three categories went to “Pavlov’s Pitbulls,” who dressed up as the famous rapper with bald-caps and sunglasses. They performed a choreographed dance to one of his most popular songs “Fireball.”
Teams “The Slicing Fruit Ninjas” tied with “The Mean Girls” for second place in “Best Team Name” and “Hedonic Rackets” won third in “Best Catwalk.”
Cayenne Schmidt, a third-year psychology major, has played in the tennis tournament for the past two semesters. Last spring, her team “Tennis Barbies” won first place in “Best Catwalk.”
“I didn’t know [how to play] tennis before, and now I do,” Schmidt said.
This year, her team continued on with a different name – “Mean Girls.” They won second place across the board in all three categories with their pink costumes and performed skit which included some iconic quotes from the early 2000s movie.
Her teammate, Skye Holeman, third-year psychology major, has been playing in the tournament since the fall of last year.
She said her favorite part of the tradition is building connections.
“Making the friendships I have made and building strong connections, and getting to know professors outside of an academic setting is really fun,” she said.
“Mean Girls” were one of four teams that performed their catwalk performance at the department’s advising chapel on Oct. 18.
There was a strong turnout of first-years in the tournament this year compared to years past, according to Schaeffer.
Angelica Vasquez, a first-year psychology major, has been practicing every Tuesday and Thursday morning for the past four weeks.
“[The tennis tournament] makes me closer to people in the [psychology] department,” she said. “It’s good to have that community behind me now as I get older.”
Her team, “The Slicing Fruit Ninjas,” was composed of all first-year majors seeking to get involved in the department fun.
Annika Schramm, another member of the team, said it was fun to be competitive in a sport.
“I really like having a competitive outlet,” she said. “Not playing any sports right now has been hard, so it’s been fun to be able to casually have some competition.”
Schramm said that this tournament has been impactful for her as a student new to PLNU.
“I definitely have met a lot of upperclassmen, and it has been great to get to know my professors because I’m not in any [psychology] classes right now.”
The final matches of the tournament will resume the Thursday morning after fall break, with the final match against the highest ranked teams – “Thee Top Dogs” and “The Tennis Balls.” Students can watch at PLNU’s tennis courts at 7 a.m. on Oct. 31.
