ODESSA, Texas — Cathy Carlson, a former Odessa High School Alum and tennis star, will be inducted in the 2023 Tech Hall of Fame this fall.
Carlson playing career started in Odessa. She remembered training with her brother and dad from a young age at local courts.
"He would get my brother and myself up before he went to work and he would take us out to Odessa College," Carlson said. "At the time, you put quarters in the lights, and he would just drill us. Both of us were players. My brother played in college as well."
Carlson later suited up for the Bronchos tennis team and used the opportunity to get competitive reps and learn from other great players that came before her.
"It was a really good experience playing at Odessa High just because I had people to practice with," Carlson said. "I had the coach feeding me balls. It definitely helped me on my way. I had some good partners. Good practice in the tournaments were really good. It was a really good opportunity. There were people ahead of me that had been really good players, like Susie Smith. Liz Alvarado was another one that was right ahead of me, and she was a really good player. Things like that helped. Just knowing that there had been other good players in the past."
The Odessa native would continue her career at Texas Tech. This was the best school to offer her a scholarship and was the reason she ended up in Lubbock.
During her time at Tech, Carlson cemented her legacy in the record books. Today, she is still regarded as the winningest player in Lady Raider women's tennis program history with 224 overall career victories (111 singles and 113 doubles win).
Carlson also helped the team to a 65-27 record during her career continuing to climb out the statistics leader board.
The OHS alum is tied for second all-time in line three singles wins with 14 in 1988 and third at line two doubles victories with 18 in 1987. Additionally, Carlson appears in the top-10 in a handful of other leaderboards, including career singles and doubles winning percentage, single-season singles and double wins, single-season singles and doubles winning percentage, single-season dual singles and doubles winning percentage and single-season dual doubles victories.
"I actually had no idea that I had done anything out of the ordinary there at Tech," Carlson said. "I just kind of did my part on the team and none of the records would be there if not for the other teammates and for my doubles partner. Just, you know, a lot of things fell into place, where I played in the lineup. If I'd played higher, I wouldn't have this record. I played anywhere from three to five in singles and then played line two doubles. Again, I wasn't the best on the team. I wasn't the worst. I was just kind of in the middle. Just steady and consistent."
Carlson will be back at Texas Tech, for the first time since her playing days, during the Hall of Fame Class of 2023 events.
The Hall of Fame Class will be formally inducted at 6 p.m. on September 29th during a ceremony at Overton Hotel and Conference Center. The entire class will also be recognized at Jones AT&T Stadium when Texas Tech hosted Houston on September 30th.
Carlson still plays tennis recreationally in leagues in her area today.