The San Saba High School Alumni Association (SSHSAA), as part of its ongoing effort to honor former students, will present its fourth Spring Sports Alumni Award at the Spring Sports Banquet to an alumni athlete who excelled in a spring sport. The SSHSAA is pleased to give this award this year to Alicia Cummings. The Spring Sports Banquet will be held Thursday, May 21st.

Alicia graduated from SSHS in 2002. During her high school years, she competed in cross country, basketball, track, and tennis. During her junior year she was named the District 10-AA Offensive Player of the year in basketball, averaging 20.6 points per game. That same year, the Lady Dillos made their first playoff appearance in 33 years and Alicia was selected to the All West Texas Super Team. In her senior year, averaging 22.4 points per game, Alicia was named the District 10-AA Most Valuable Player. She was also named to both Texas Basketball Magazine’s All State Team and Texas Girls Coaches Association’s All State Team.

Alicia also excelled in tennis. She began playing at the age of seven and competed in numerous USTA tournaments throughout the state as she grew up. When she reached high school, she compiled a team tennis record of 32 wins and no losses and helped lead the team to four straight state team tennis appearances. During her junior and senior years, she advanced to the state tennis tournament in singles and won third place in class AA her junior year. In her senior year she captured the class AA state singles championship and became the first girl in school history to win a state singles title.

After graduation from high school, Alicia received a tennis scholarship to Tarleton State University. During her four years at TSU, she received numerous awards and honors. She was named all-Conference all four years in both singles and doubles competition. In 2003 she received the Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year award as well as the Central Region’s Player to Watch award. In 2006 she was named the Lone Star Conference Women’s Player of the Year and the Central Region’s Senior Player of the Year. Her senior year was a special one for the Lady Texans as she led the team to their first NCAA Elite Eight appearance in school history. In 2005 Alicia also qualified for the Division II National Tournament in doubles. She and her doubles partner ended up finishing seventh in the nation. She finished her collegiate career with the highest winning percentage of any women’s player in TSU history and her national rankings in both singles and doubles are currently the highest received by any individual in school history.

Graduation from Tarleton came for Alicia in December 2006. Her final GPA of 3.9 earned her a place on the ESPN First-team Academic All American team. Now in the real world, she accepted a teaching and coaching position with Hico High School, where she currently teaches Texas history and serves as the head coach for both volleyball and tennis and also assists with basketball and track.

The SSHSAA is proud to honor Alicia Cummings with its Spring Sports Alumni Award. In recognition of this honor, the SSHSAA will place a paver stone in the High School Building courtyard acknowledging this award.