Kitty Harrison Invitational
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Katherine Gordon Harrison (born 1934) is an American former college
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
coach who was the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels women's tennis team from 1976 to 1998. She attended the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
at a time when the school did not field a women's team. She studied
classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
as a postgraduate at Texas and North Carolina before becoming a professional tennis instructor. She was the all-time winningest
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
(ACC) women's tennis coach at the time of her retirement.


Early life and education

Harrison grew up in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
. Her father, Dr. Thomas P. Harrison, went to college at the University of North Carolina. She took up tennis at age seven or eight and received instruction from University of Texas
classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
professor and longtime men's tennis coach D.A. Penick. She played high school tennis for Austin High School and competed in local and state junior tournaments. After a year of attending
Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's liberal arts college in Sweet Briar, Amherst County, Virginia, Amherst County, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in ...
in Virginia, she transferred to the University of Texas, where she joined groups such as
Kappa Kappa Gamma Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, Monmouth, Illinois, United States. It has a membership of more than ...
, the
Mortar Board Mortar Board is an American national honor society for college juniors and seniors. It was established in 1918 in Syracuse, New York through the merger of four local women's organizations from four institutions. It started admitting men in 1975 ...
, the Orange Jackets, and
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
. There was no intercollegiate women's tennis program at Texas at the time, so she played on a club team. She majored in history and philosophy, graduating with honors in 1956. After college, Harrison worked as a
secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
in cities across the country. She eventually returned to the University of Texas to earn a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in classics. In 1970, she enrolled in a classics
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
program at the University of North Carolina, but she left in the summer of 1974 after seeing how few teaching positions were open in the field. She became certified as a tennis instructor after training at Dennis Van der Meer's tennis academy in
Hilton Head, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia (as the crow flies), and southwest of Charles ...
, and began working as an assistant instructor at the Hollow Rock Racquet & Swim Club in
Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...
.


Coaching career

Harrison began coaching the women's tennis program at the University of North Carolina in 1976–77, succeeding longtime coach Frances Hogan. This was initially a part-time job, and she continued to work at the tennis club in Durham, until she was hired full time for the 1979–80 season. Under Harrison, North Carolina won the first four ACC Championships, from 1977 to 1980, and finished runner-up four other times. Eight times, they finished the season ranked within the top 25 nationally, and she had only four losing seasons. Notable players for Harrison include Kathy Barton; Cinda Gurney, the 1993 NCAA Women's Singles Championships runner-up; and Alisha Portnoy. She retired after the 1997–98 season, succeeded by
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
coach
Roland Thornqvist Roland Thornqvist (born March 3, 1970) is a Swedish-born American college tennis coach and former college tennis player. Thornqvist is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's tennis team of the University of Florida. He is best k ...
. Sportswriter
Mary Garber Mary Ellen Garber (April 16, 1916 – September 21, 2008) was an American Sports journalism, sportswriter, recognized as a pioneer among women in Sportswriters, sports journalism. She received over 40 writing awards and numerous honors in a spor ...
described her as "quiet and soft-spoken, but with a passion for tennis".


Legacy

At the time of her retirement, Harrison was the winningest women's tennis coach in ACC history by dual match wins (with a record of about 360 wins, 225 losses). This record was eventually broken by fellow North Carolina coach
Brian Kalbas Brian Kalbas (born 1966) is an American college tennis coach. He has been the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels women's tennis team since 2003. He played college tennis and started his coaching career at the University of Notre Dame bef ...
in 2017. She was inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004. The Kitty Harrison Invitational is an annual preseason women's college tournament held at the University of North Carolina since 2004. Also named after Harrison is the North Carolina women's tennis team's
most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
award.


Notes


References


External links


Kitty Harrison – North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame
(video on
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, 1:04) {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Kitty 1934 births Living people Tennis players from Austin, Texas American female tennis players Tennis coaches from Texas University of Texas at Austin alumni North Carolina Tar Heels women's tennis coaches 20th-century American sportswomen