Meredith College Athletics History

Meredith College basketball history

Meredith College students have participated in athletic events on campus for more than 100 years. Athletics at Meredith College began in 1904 with the advent of Meredith’s Athletic Association. In addition to sponsoring other student activities around campus, the athletic association began to sponsor sports in 1937. The original sports at Meredith included basketball and tennis. Meredith’s basketball program began with two teams, the Reds and the Blues. The first competitive games against other schools were held in 1904 with two games against St. Mary’s College. This match up with St. Mary's was the earliest known intercollegiate basketball match up in Wake County.

In the early years, Meredith athletic activities included swimming, soccer, horseback riding, tennis, baseball, basketball, golf, football and field hockey. The first events were primarily inter-class competitions. In November 1937, Meredith aligned with the Virginia Field Hockey Association and became a part of the United States Conference.

Meredith College field hockey The 1940s and 1950s brought some big victories for the basketball team. In 1944, Meredith’s freshman-sophomore basketball team hosted the Peace Junior College (now Peace College) team. The outcome was a victory for Meredith, and the game marked the beginning of the heated cross-town rivalry between the two Raleigh women’s colleges. In 1952, the basketball team pulled out impressive victories against the University of North Carolina and Duke. The field hockey team continued this trend in 1952 by defeating both the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils.

Meredith athletics took on a new life with the completion of Weatherspoon Gymnasium in 1970. Weatherspoon is still the home of the basketball and volleyball teams, training facilities and athletics offices. The first full-semester golf team was launched in 1976. The volleyball and tennis teams saw their first winning seasons during the 1970s. Softball was added as a varsity sport in 1975.

Riding the wave of momentum built in the 1970s, Meredith athletics earned state and conference titles in the 1980s. In 1980, the golf team won the NCAIAW state championship while the tennis team took the conference title. Also in that Meredith College Athletics History year, the Student Government Association adopted the angel as the school’s official mascot. The golf team finished second in the AIAW Division III national tournament in 1981, making it the first bid for a Meredith athletics team to compete for a national championship. The College added soccer as a varsity sport in 1993, followed by cross country in 2005, lacrosse in 2012, track & field for the 2016 season, and field hockey and golf were added to the department in 2019.

Meredith College basketball In recent years at Meredith, the competitiveness of the athletics programs has increased on a regional and national level in Division III. Since 2001, the program has had 18 NCAA tournament bids across six different sports since 2001 (basketball 2001, 2003; cross country 2013-2015, 2022; lacrosse 2014-2019, 2021-2022; soccer 2006, 2008; tennis 2003, 2007; volleyball, 2016, 2018. During the summer of 2007, the name of the sports teams was changed to “Avenging Angels” to emphasize the prowess of Meredith student-athletes. The 2007-08 season marked the first year of competition in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Since joining the conference, Meredith is the only single-gender institution to win USA South tournament championships and is one of two to win regular season divisional titles. Soccer gained a conference tournament championship (2008) and a regular season crown (2009), while tennis won the 2009 tournament championship. The volleyball program has achieved success with a pair of regular season championships in the East (formally North) division in 2014 and a shared title in 2018. The program went on to win a pair of conference tournaments in 2016 and 2018, while the lacrosse program has claimed eight USA South tournament championships.

Meredith is committed to blending intercollegiate athletics with a strong academic program. Student-athletes follow the same academic requirements and standards as other students; they must maintain a good academic standing with the College, be full-time students, and follow the rules of the NCAA. The athletic program maintains the same high standards set for other departments and the same commitment to the education and personal development of student-athletes.