Former Columbus North girls tennis players Caroline Hedrick, Allie Smith and Aubrey Smith are the most recent players that Kendal Hammel started in the No. 1 singles position throughout their high school careers.
This season, Hammel might have found his next staple at that spot.
Freshman Ashlie Wilson is playing in the No. 1 singles position this year and got off to a strong start. She beat opponents from Center Grove, Seymour and Gibson Southern in straight sets before falling in straight sets to top players from Evansville Memorial and Providence in Saturday’s Floyd Central Invitational.
Wilson is the first freshman playing at the No. 1 singles spot since Aubrey Smith in 2014.
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Wilson has been around tennis her whole life and began her journey into tennis as soon as she learned how to walk, but it’s really been in her blood since the day she was born.
Her mother Mary Beth Wilson is the general manager at Tipton Lakes Athletic Club and played tennis at Purdue. Ashlie picked up her first racket at 2 years old and started playing competitively at age 7.
Wilson has played in plenty of USTA Junior events. Her most recent event was the 14-and-under Junior Team Tennis Nationals at the USTA National Tennis Center in Orlando, Florida, in November.
"She’s got the experience, and she won’t have a lot of nerves or concerns, even though she’ll be playing upperclassmen," North coach Kendal Hammel said. "There is a lot of good freshman (in the state) this year. It’s a plus for her having the tournament experience and the day-in-and-day-out match play all the time."
The Bull Dogs, currently ranked 12th in the state, have a very tough schedule this year that includes matches with No. 9 Center Grove, No. 2 Carmel, No. 4 Fort Wayne Carroll, No. 5 Providence, No. 8 Terre Haute South, No. 10 Homestead and No. 11 North Central. North has beaten Center Grove and Providence by 3-2 scores.
Wilson says that being around tennis her whole life will only help with the very tough competition going forward.
"I’ve definitely had a lot of experience playing against a lot of very tough players and matches," Wilson said. "Having so much experience playing in tournaments helps me not be so nervous."
Today, Wilson is likely to play against one of her good friends in Columbus East junior Kathryn Hodzen when the teams meet at North. It will be the first of possible several matchups the next couple years, but Wilson says it’s more about having fun.
"It’s sort of awkward playing against someone that you know really well and have been playing with forever," Wilson said. "I think it’s going to be fun, and it’ll be a very great experience."
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Columbus East at Columbus North girls tennis
When: 4:30 p.m. today
Where: Columbus North High School
Admission: Free
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