In 1957, the four shared little but a love of tennis, but it was enough. They
kept in touch for 38 years and met again this summer for another game or two.
By Kimberly Wheatley
FSU Communications Group
In 1957, the four shared little but a love of tennis, but it was enough. They
kept in touch for 38 years and met again this summer for another game or two.
When they first played, on the tennis courts beside the women's gym, FSU had been coed for 10 years. The women had no tennis team and were not allowed to walk on campus in tennis shorts.
Virginia Dumas (now Skillman) and Gloria Payne would arrive in raincoats, to
hide the shorts. The boys, Marcial Lavina and Bill Counts, arrived in "The Blue
Bolt," Counts' 1949 Chevrolet with chipped paint and an unreliable engine.
The four played whenever they could, often alternating partners.
"We were tigers out there," said Payne. "We only broke for lunch and, a lot of times, we'd eat right on the court."
After they graduated in 1959, they went their separate ways, taking with them happy memories of each other and a serious game of tennis.
Payne turned pro and played at the state, regional and national level for 26 years. Counts coached the Sarasota High School Boys' Team to a state championship in 1984. Lavina has played club tennis ever since college. Skillman started and coached the Racquettes, an FSU women's tennis "club" - "they told us we couldn't have a team" - for several years and continued to give private lessons.
Lavina, of North Hollywood, Calif., who had kept in touch with the others over the years, scheduled the reunion. Counts traveled from Sarasota, Fla., and Payne came in from Macon, Ga.
After 36 years apart, the bond was still there. The four alumni met in June at the Holly Tree Racquet Club in Wilmington, N.C., where Skillman lives.
"Gloria and I hadn't seen them or each other since the good old days," said Skillman. "I can't believe it's finally happened... We had a marvelous time together and hope we can get together again in a few years."