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Hannah Summerson is taking over reins at Montgomery in girls tennis

By Jon Gerardi 4 min read

Hannah Summerson always just assumed she'd help out coaching tennis at some point down the road with her mother Theresa, the South Williamsport girls tennis coach. After all, her mother coached her while she was a standout player at South Williamsport.

But then an opportunity presented itself. Summerson did want to get into coaching at some point, but didn't think it'd happen just a year removed from college.

Summerson was named the girls tennis coach at Montgomery, her first coaching gig after a remarkable career playing for South Williamsport in high school and then Lycoming College.

"Coaching for Montgomery was just an opportunity that came up that I wasn't at all expecting, but I kind of thought why not I guess," Summerson said. "So here we are."

Summerson will become one of the youngest coaches in District 4 at just 22 years old, but she hopes being just a few years older than her players is something that helps her relate to them.

"I'm hoping that works to my advantage and I think that it will. Even girls that I played with in college just a year or two ago were the same age of the seniors on the team," Summerson said. "It's going to be interesting to find that fine line between being friends and being a coach. I think it will be to my advantage that I am closer in age because I can relate to them. I was just competing in high school five or six years ago and college a year or two ago, so I know what it's like.

"I think I'll be able to coach them with thinking of how I was thinking not that long ago."

The former Mountie is more than excited to get to work with her team and help the program take the next step. Montgomery's had numerous talented tennis players over the years and made runs in districts and Summerson is hoping she can help the team have even more success.

"For being a small school, they have a lot of girls on their team. I think 20 that are signed up already. For being that small, it really impresses me they have that many. I know they have a lot of athletic girls that are involved in other sports. So they're grinders, they're hard workers, they're athletes," Summerson said. "I think the last four years, they've made it to the quarters of districts. So my hope is to push them to the next level and really improve in that way, and I think we'll be able to and it's exciting for the girls to have a new coach and someone they can relate to. It wasn't that long ago that I was playing in high school. Just my energy and relateableness to them will help them."

Summerson graduated in 2016 from South Williamsport and was a four-year standout with the Mounties. In singles competition, she was a quarterfinalist in district competition and in doubles, she reached the semifinals her senior year. She also helped the Mounties reach the state tournament her senior season.

At Lycoming, Summerson put together a remarkable career. She broke the program record for doubles wins at the ITA Regionals and set it at 44. For combined wins, she holds the Lycoming record with 93 after breaking it at the MAC Individual Championships.

"It means a lot to me (to have those records), but I think I have to credit the team. I couldn't have done it without the support of my team and coaches and growing up here and living so close, I had so much support here locally, my family and people I played with and coaches who coached me even from a young age," Summerson said. "That's really what I credit it to. I don't look back and feel like 'oh I'm the person who got all these records.' I was just excited to be able to play and have that success in general. It was a lot a fun."

Montgomery's players will be getting a great coach who more than knows the game of tennis. And being just a year removed from playing her final season, Summerson has a lot to offer the players and program.

"I'm very excited about it. I don't think I would have expected it a month ago. When the opportunity came along, I thought 'wait this is actually something I'll really enjoy doing.' It's still new so I haven't even met the team or the girls, so I'm really excited for that and to get playing over the summer and I'm hopeful that we'll have a really good time."

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