Tryouts for the first official women’s volleyball team (1974–75 season) at the helm of Coach Paula Hild
en’s team existed, commonplace among universities at that time, she tried unsuc- cessfully to assemble a team herself. She and some friends practiced dribbling, free throws, and three-pointers wherever they could get court time—Navy Pier, Alumni Gym, and Loyola Park among others.
O 22 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO But practice wasn’t enough for Nessi. She began
playing and refereeing men’s intramural basketball, the first and only woman to do either at the time. Nessi requested a formal spot on one of the men’s intramu- ral teams. A University official said no. “I just played anyway for a year or two,” says Nessi. “They looked the other way.” Her sophomore year, Nessi befriended George Ire-
land, one of Loyola’s athletic directors. She questioned Ireland about why there wasn’t an intercollegiate women’s basketball team. “George and I were kind of buddies,” says Nessi. “I used to spend a lot of time in
the gym and nag him about starting a team.” Eventu- ally, Ireland told her if she could find enough players, they could start a team. Nessi placed an ad in the Phoenix, and nine women
responded—enough to form a team, which entered its first tournament at University of Illinois, Circle Campus. To play in the tournament, Nessi and com- pany borrowed uniforms from her former high school team. Though the “Loyola Rumblers”—as they were known—didn’t play any other formal games that year, the spark of interest and camaraderie set the stage for something bigger.
n the court, Toni Nessi (BS ’75) sported a mean jump shot. Off the court, she took a different kind of shot: behind the camera, that is, covering athletic and other events for the Phoenix. Now, 40 years later, these dual personas have come full circle. Given her passion for athletics and photography, Nessi is adding a few missing pages to the Loyola history books.
As a freshman in 1971, Nessi wanted to play organized basketball. Since no wom-
Toni Nessi (BS ‘75), at the farewell cel- ebration of Alumni Gym in 2011, fondly recalls her days as a student-athlete and photographer.
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