Aggies say goodbye to two seniors

GREENSBORO, April 11, 2008 – There is a NCAA commercial running on television where females are playing field hockey at a university’s stadium. There appears to be scouts in the stands. Only these scouts aren’t from sports teams, they are from medical schools.

The narrator then chimes in and says: “There are over 380,000 NC-double-A student-athletes and just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports." Senior women’s tennis players Terika Palmer and Tina Ruffin would be excellent spokeswomen for the NCAA’s ad campaign.

Replace the field hockey players with Palmer and Ruffin, and you not only add some authenticity to the ads, but you also feature two student-athletes who epitomize the term student-athlete. Palmer and Ruffin played their final tennis match at the Aggie Tennis Complex on Friday as the Aggies faced Virginia State.

They were victorious as the Aggies defeated the Trojans 6-1 to improve to 4-16 on the season. Ruffin, playing No. 1 singles, defeated Imani James 6-4, 6-0. She also teamed with Palmer in doubles to defeat Asya Monds and Kendra Plummer 8-3. Palmer won her match at No. 5 singles 7-5, 3-6, 10-6 over Holmes.

While they finished their careers at the Aggie Tennis Complex with wins, the sting of going a second straight season without qualifying for the MEAC women’s tennis tournament is still being felt by the two four-year starters.

But based on what the soon to be N.C. A&T graduates have accomplished in the classroom, when the history books are written, Palmer and Ruffin’s biggest contribution to N.C. A&T will not be with their tennis racquets. Their biggest contribution could be sitting in an executive board room with label Aggie alumni attached.  

Palmer has already accepted a mechanical engineering job in Kansas City. She has 16 career wins as a singles player and 17 career wins as a doubles player. She said the thing she will miss the most are the overnight road trips with teammates. “My first year we were really good, so I know the program is going to come back strong,’’ said Palmer. “The sophomores on our team are really good. We have some great tennis players coming in next year, so I’m going to enjoy watching us improve from afar.”

Palmer, an Atlanta native, has been known to record a 4.0 grade point average during a semester. She has a 3.46 GPA in the major of mechanical engineering. Palmer started her career under James Dunwoody before Andy Smith took over the program.

“Coach Dunwoody was very important person in my life,’’ said Palmer. “He dished out a lot of tough love, but it kept you discipline. He was a no nonsense type of guy who taught me to be disciplined in everything I do. Coach Smith is really supportive and really has our best interest in mind.”

Ruffin also came in under Dunwoody. Her fondest memory of Aggies women’s tennis will be Dunwoody’s 5 a.m., practices. Ruffin has played either No. 1 or No. 2 singles for the Aggies over the last two seasons, which means she has faced some of the best tennis players in the country.

Ruffin has an impressive 3.86 GPA in sports science and fitness management. She is involved in several organizations around campus and frequently attends other sporting events around campus.

“Tina has a great personality,’’ said Smith. “She is well loved around campus and it seems like almost every five minutes someone is coming up to speak to her. She is very outgoing and we’re going to miss that smile around here.”

Ruffin is headed to graduate school so she can further her goal to one day work for the Atlanta Braves. Ruffin is hoping to get an internship with the Braves this summer. But no matter how far she goes from N.C. A&T, there is always one event that will bring her back.

“I’m always going to remember all of my homecoming weekends,’’ said Ruffin, who added that she wants to be a regular season-ticket holder for football. “I definitely want to come back and experience homecoming every year. It’s one of those things that make A&T special.”