For Abby Platt, Bucknell has been more than just a place where her academic and athletic journey through excellence was able to thrive; it has been a canvas where lifelong connections helped pave the way for her future. The best parts of her time as a student-athlete come because of how close-knit her team and coach are and the connections that she has built and fostered through being a Bison. The journey to Bucknell for Platt began with her sport; tennis. The Texas native started playing when she was around five years old because her parents put her and her older brother into tennis summer camps as children.
“I actually hated it so much at first because it's super hot in Texas in the summers,” said Platt. “I was always a kid that wanted to go into the AC. I was always looking for every excuse to do that like I would forget my visor and then go to the pro shop and just sit there in the AC, so my parents definitely didn't think I was gonna become a tennis player.”
The turning point for Platt in her tennis journey came from watching Max, her brother, grow within the sport.
“He got to a really high level and was traveling across the country going from California to Florida and just all over the place and I was always the iPad kid sitting there,” said Platt. “I started to get jealous because a lot of what my brother did, I was just the jealous little sister of. That kind of inspired me to want to get to the level he was at. I wanted to follow in his footsteps after watching him shine.”
Some of Platt’s most fond memories as a younger child playing tennis growing up were actually the ones that included her brother as well.
“I did love growing up playing tennis when my brother and I qualified for the same national tournaments and we got to play at the same time in the same place,” said Platt. “Those were just fun tournaments for my family.”
Another, less serious, reason why Platt decided to keep playing tennis as a young girl was for the outfits.
“My mom tells me that I loved tennis outfits,” said Platt. “She would say that you can’t wear tennis skirts if you're not a tennis player so that also had a lot to do with me playing.”
When Platt got to middle school, she began to realize that she wanted to take tennis to the next level, but to do that with tennis is unique to most sports.
“When my brother hit high school he took a gap year to work on tennis and he was kind of getting to that point where he was more serious about it. He considered homeschooling, which is very common for our sport at that level,” said Platt.
So, when Abby got to high school she went through that same cycle of deciding which path to take when it came to her school and training.
“I was like, ‘do I need to homeschool like a lot of the other tennis players at my level who were playing the same tournaments as me are?’. I was maybe one of like 10% of people in my playing group that actually went to real school rather than being homeschooled and training all day. I ended up choosing to stay at school and I am really glad that I did.”
Platt attended high school at the Greenhill School in Dallas, Texas which is where one of the most influential connections came into her life; Jaye Andrews. At the time to Platt, Andrews was her eighth grade math teacher and advisor. For Bucknell basketball fans, Jaye Andrews ‘85 is a beloved Bison alumnus and Bucknell Hall of Famer.
“Before I even committed to Bucknell, Jaye Andrews connected me with one of his daughters Camille who played soccer there which was part of what influenced my decision to come here,” said Platt. “I just love how the Bucknell community supports each other and how strong the network is.”
While Andrews played a huge role in Platt’s journey to Bucknell, the Texas born native always knew she wanted to be in the Northeast for college and her parents were on board with that idea since they both went to college at UPenn and loved their experiences.
“I really wanted to go to the Northeast because everyone in Texas goes far for college,” said Platt. “I wanted something completely different because I wanted to experience the seasons and I knew that coming to this area was going to do that for me. I was looking at a lot of academically focused schools, some Division III schools and a lot of Patriot League schools.”
Abby’s recruiting process was a bit abnormal due to the fallout from COVID-19. With her recruiting timeline being in 2021, most schools were not allowing student-athletes to do official visits for health and safety reasons.
“Since I couldn’t really do official visits it was a weird journey at that time,” said Platt. “I took a trip with my family during the spring break of junior year and just went to the Northeast and saw a bunch of schools. After that, I remember my initial phone call with Coach Cecchini because it was the best phone call I've ever had with a coach. I feel like we just really connected and there was just something about her that I really, really liked and have loved ever since,” said Platt.
After the phone call, she got on a Zoom call with some of the current players and then eventually visited Lewisburg in the fall. With the exceptional calls, the recommendation from an alumnus whom she trusted and valued the opinion of, an eye-witness account from a more recent student-athlete and her own experience visiting the area, Platt decided that Bucknell was the perfect place for her to be and committed. When Platt arrived at Bucknell and began her collegiate tennis journey, it was immediately different in the best ways.
“For tennis, in juniors, it's so individual. You're traveling with your parents or your coach and you don't have a team so I think transitioning to a team environment was really fun for me because it was nice to have people by my side supporting me,” said Platt. “I would feel alone a lot in juniors and it would be a lot of mental pressure, but being on a team here has been such a positive experience for me. I love going to practice and just enjoy every moment whereas in juniors, it would kind of be a dread to go to practice because there wasn't that sort of team camaraderie”
One thing that didn’t change for Platt when she came to Bucknell was the support that she received from her family, despite being further away.
“I'm fortunate that my mom doesn't have a full-time job so she can come to a lot of matches, especially this year as a senior,” said Platt. “She's kind of realizing that this is the last time that she is going to see her daughter play college tennis. My dad also tries to come see me play, but his work schedule makes it a bit more difficult.”
Abby’s parents are not the only family that show up to a lot of her matches; her grandmother does as well.
“My grandma has played a big role over the last four years because she lives in Kent, Ohio which is only 4 hours away. Most of the matches my mom comes to, she comes to as well,” said Platt. “She’s kind of our team grandma because everyone calls her “Wai Po” which is Chinese for grandma. She’s been on all of our spring break trips too, which is really awesome.”
Outside of her family, Platt does have some other supporters that has followed her journey and come out to watch her play in Jaye Andrews and Professor Tim Sweeney. Most recently, he went out to Army West Point for the West Point Invitational this fall to watch the senior in action.
With support from her teammates, coach, family and beyond, Platt has made Bucknell a breeding ground for her talent and growth. As a senior with just a couple of matches left to play, she has already written her name in the Bucknell women’s tennis record books as she sits tied for 6th in career doubles victories with 73, tied for 15th in career singles victories with 54 and is 9th in career combined victories with 127.
“I think the biggest difference throughout the years has just been watching my role on the team change,” said Platt. Going from freshman year to being more of a silent leader, and now being an official captain, it's fun to watch the different styles of leadership throughout the years and grow into who I want to be by watching those before me and learning.”
With growth in leadership being Platt’s biggest transformation throughout her time as a women’s tennis student-athlete at Bucknell, she has continued to learn, grow and adapt in many ways, especially throughout her senior season after losing her long-time doubles partner in Whitney King.
“I played with Whitney for the past three years, we had such a solid foundation and she was always my partner for everything. After she graduated last year, I came into this year really scared because I wasn’t sure that I would find someone who clicks like that,” said Platt. “I think it wasn’t that hard for me because I was always the doubles partner growing up that had a new doubles partner every tournament because I just loved playing with different people. I'm used to switching around and adjusting and I feel like I'm a pretty adaptable player. So, when it comes to finding a new partner it wasn't hard for it to click for me this year.”
So far in her senior season, outside of moving up in the record books, Platt has garnered two Patriot League Women’s Tennis Player of the Week honors for her outstanding play at the No. 1 spot in both singles and doubles. While she has racked in many honors and wins at a high level of competition over her time with the Bison, Platt’s favorite memories aren’t connected to them but to the people and connections she has formed around them.
“It's crazy because a lot of my friends at other schools don't have as amazing of a coach or as cohesive of a team as we do which is what has just made my experience here so good,” said Platt. “If I were to pinpoint a favorite memory, I mean all of our spring break trips have been amazing. Last year, Florida was really fun because we got to go to Disney which was a really cool experience. Hawaii, obviously, was so amazing. That was definitely for sure my favorite spring break trip. Our Kentucky trip in the fall was another fun one, honestly just the traveling in general because everywhere we go there is something to learn or a cool place to eat and everyone including our coach is always down for that.”
The senior made the most of the spring break trip to Hawaii this year by making a daily vlog to post on instagram and show the team in its bonding element, which is the part of her journey that she is the most appreciative of.
“At first, I was just doing a travel blog because I saw a lot of other teams doing that and then the coach told me to do one every day,” said Platt. “When I was a sophomore my role was a social media manager for the team, so I liked doing these things and managing it from a player's side, it was fun.”
As the time winds down in Platt’s collegiate journey, she wants to focus on living in the moment and just having fun like she does in those spring break trips, which is not easy for her to do.
“I'm so results oriented, but everyone tells me to just have fun because it’s my senior year and I'm like, ‘but I want to win’,” said Platt. “It's not that easy to have a just have fun mindset when all you want to do is go out there and play your best and win, but I think my goal is probably just to try not to focus on every little tiny thing that goes wrong and just take it all in. It's my last couple matches at home. When am I ever gonna be able to do this ever again right? So, I think I'll just try to be happy and have fun.”
As Platt readies for the end of her time at Bucknell, it is not only the sport and the academics that she looks back on, but her journey as a whole which includes her time working at the Bucknell Teaching and Learning Center (TLC).
“I was a study group facilitator for four semesters and then I transitioned into a leadership role this past fall. Right now I'm an operations coordinator on the leadership team for the TLC,” said Platt. “I've been doing a lot of backend data stuff, kind of like running the behind the scenes with the TLC and that's been fun because I've been able to make flyers, do outreach and do data projects that are useful to my major of business analytics.”
Another journey that Platt is currently on outside of tennis is with a business that she and a couple of the other women’s tennis players began to form last year called Club Ralley. Club Ralley is a business that these women started because they wanted to solve a problem that they themselves struggled with as college athletes which is finding the right people to play sports with when your collegiate journey comes to an end so that your athletic identity doesn’t fade away.
“Jaycie Mair and I are actually in the finals of Bizpitch, which is a competition at Bucknell where student entrepreneurs can win prizes to help launch their businesses,” said Platt. “We started this journey with Whitney King and Caroline Marcus last year and have continued to grow it this year. Jaycie is working on a mobile app for our business right now. There should be a system, a clear path for athletes to move forward and have a good relationship with their sport after graduation. So,we're making an app that is kind of like LinkedIn, but for athletes. When you go to a new city and you don't really know anyone, sports is always one thing that you have in common that connects you. We're kind of trying to tap into that and bring people together in real life because Gen Z is going through this loneliness epidemic and we want to kind of create a space where people can go outside and play sports with someone that is at their level in an easy way.”
The app will allow people to display their sports background on their profile in order to find like-minded and like-skilled athletes in their area. You will be able to list many different things on your profile including if you played a collegiate sport, what level you are at in the different sports you are interested in and what you are looking for in a competitiveness level of an opponent.
Club Ralley’s Mission Statement reads; “We believe sports are more than a game, they're an outlet to connect, compete, and keep doing what you love. Whether it’s picking up a weekend match with friends, joining a local league, or meeting new people who share your passion, every athlete deserves to keep that spirit alive. That’s exactly why we're building the Ralley app: to keep former athletes in the game, no matter where life takes them.”
Club Ralley formed as an LLC this past summer, which has allowed Platt to gain valuable business experience that she will carry into her future endeavors.
“I've been doing taxes and everything,” said Platt. “It's been really real and it's been such a cool experience, honestly, because I've always wanted to be a business owner. It makes me feel better about starting a business later on in life, if I want to, because I've already gone through the steps of how to start and operate a business.”
Platt’s journey post graduation has already been mapped out and it all circles back to the reason she loved Bucknell at the start— connections.
“When I committed to Bucknell, Jaye Andrews connected me with one of the professors that he had when he was here, Tim Sweeney,” said Platt. “I came in my freshman year and he was kind of my mentor. He doesn't teach here anymore, but he comes back on campus a lot so whenever he was on campus, we would meet and talk about life. He came to watch my matches in the spring and it was really nice. We kept that mentor relationship going on and I'm really glad that we did, because he connected me with someone at Keurig Dr. Pepper, who was also a Bucknell Alum, because he saw something in me.”
Professor Sweeney thought Keurig Dr. Pepper would be a good landing spot for Platt since it would take her back home to Dallas, where the offices and Platt’s family are both located. As a sophomore, Platt was able to do an HR workforce analytics internship to begin her Keurig Dr. Pepper journey.
“When I was there, I started talking to more people and seeing what other roles I liked and could try to do the next summer,” said Platt. “Then, I applied to the sales analytics program at the company which funneled into a leadership development program. The leadership development program is basically an accelerated program at the company and what I really wanted to do because I wanted to rotate around teams until I found something that I really liked. The program would also help me get promoted faster within Keurig Dr. Pepper. So, I ended up doing that last summer and I got a return offer which was awesome because they only offered back three interns, you really had to work for it. Now, starting this June, I'll be a sales analyst for them.”
Working at Keurig Dr. Pepper has always been and continues to be a dream job for the Texas native since it is a true full circle moment that brings her back home to a company she has always loved.
“In Texas you grow up drinking Dr. Pepper like it’s water, so it’s a dream job for me to work there,” said Platt. “And I am so excited to go back to Texas because I love Dallas. I realized going to Bucknell that I hate the cold. I'm so glad that I experienced the weather and the seasons, but I want to go back, plus it's where my family is. I'm also the biggest Cowboys fan and the Keurig Dr. Pepper office overlooks the Cowboys practice field, which is so cool.”
Before Platt takes to the road to head back to Texas and embark on her post-college journey at Keurig Dr. Pepper, she still has a couple of matches left to play with the Orange & Blue, including her senior day match.
“It's like mixed emotions,” said Platt. “It's bittersweet, but I'm excited to celebrate Mirra and I's four years here. It’s also sad because that is our last official match of the season until the Patriot League playoffs. It's definitely going to be emotional, I'm probably going to cry. I cried during my teammates' senior days so I can't imagine what I'm gonna be like on my own senior day.”
The Bison senior day match will take place on the Varsity Tennis Courts on Sunday, April 12 as Bucknell faces Franklin & Marshall College at 1 p.m. with the senior day festivities beginning shortly before. Bucknell will then host the Patriot League playoffs where Platt will get the privilege of ending her collegiate playing career on her home courts which is a very unique experience that not many athletes get to have.
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