Missing out on her sophomore season of tennis may have been a blessing in disguise for Columbus North junior Ashlie Wilson.
Playing competitively since she was 7 years old, last year’s COVID-19 shutdown gave her more free time to reassess what tennis meant to her before summer tournaments picked back up last year.
“Taking a break from the competitive aspect of tennis really taught me a lot. It made me have a different mindset over the sport,” Wilson said. “I think that’s the main difference from a few years ago to this year.”
Wilson proved her theory right. She received many accolades for her success this past spring, including being named first-team All-State, All-District and All-Conference Indiana. She also was North’s co-captain and was named the Most Valuable Player on the team.
All of that made it no question that Wilson would be named The Republic’s Girls Tennis Player of the Year for the second time in three years.
“I think my season went really well,” Wilson said. “I know the team didn’t make it as far, but I think we all learned from this experience, and we’re just ready to come back stronger next year.”
One of the things Wilson missed the most about high school tennis last year was the team aspect of the sport: camaraderie, friendships and celebrations with her teammates after huge wins.
“Just being able to bond with all the others girls on the team, practice and get better together and going through everything with all of them this year,” Wilson said. “The team aspect of this season is the best part of tennis.”
Nearly a guaranteed win every time she stepped onto the court, Wilson accumulated a 20-2 individual record at No. 1 singles and helped the Bull Dogs finish with a 20-3 team record. Her only losses came to Carmel’s Emma Brune in three sets during a dual meet and to Evansville Memorial’s Ellie Myers in the Jasper Semistate.
Wilson proved to be one of the toughest and sharpest players for the Bull Dogs while also solidifying herself as one of the top players in the state.
“She could definitely play with anybody in the state. In her level of play with the girls in this state, her name is mentioned right up there with all those other girls as some of the top tennis players,” North coach Kendal Hammel said. “She’s really worked at it, too. It’s not something that she’s done naturally. She puts the extra time in on the court and off the court, doing tournaments and hitting tons of balls. She is that person you look up to as far as a leader.”
Once her season ended, Wilson continued to keep herself busy with tennis. She’s been practicing nearly every day since the high school season ended and will be playing in some United States Tennis Association national tournaments later this summer.
Wilson mainly practices at North and indoors at Tipton Lakes Athletic Club. Sometimes she will go to Center Grove to practice and hit with her friend Ashlee Fisk, who was the No. 1 singles player for the Trojans, and other times she will hit with her sister Kathryn; or with boys from the North team and some coaches.
When she is not practicing, Ashlie mostly runs the front desk at Tipton Lakes, where her mother Mary Beth is the general manager.
Ashlie is looking to play tennis in college and has her sights set on either Purdue, Butler or Belmont as her top choices. Earlier this month, the NCAA lifted its dead period that’s been in place since the pandemic, meaning that now, coaches will be able to return to their normal recruiting calendars and activities, including face-to-face contacts.
With recruiting now in full swing again, she hopes to make her college commitment by the end of summer or early fall.
“I know she has goals of playing college tennis. You’ve got to give her a lot of credit for the work ethic she has in putting into her game and trying to improve on her tennis skills,” Hammel said. “She’s conditioning, she’s doing all the things that for someone that commits themselves to being a better player for a particular sport.”
With the way the team performed this year, there’s no doubt North has the opportunity to make a deep run in the postseason next year.
“Next year, we’re going to be very good,” Wilson said. “I think we have a few freshmen coming in. I think that, and with the girls working hard over the offseason, I think we’ll come back stronger next year.”
Hammel still expects Wilson to be in top form and one of the top players for next season.
“For what she did this year, and going into next year, she’s going to be a dominant player at the high school level next year, too, no matter what,” Hammel said. “She’s a pleasure to have as a coach. She’s a pleasure to have on the team and to work with. I don’t have to say a lot to her. She can go through business as usual. She does listen. She’s always trying to be a better player and do the right things and continue to work on stuff to make her an even better player down the road.”
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The Republic 2021 All-Area Girls Tennis team:
Ashlie Wilson, Columbus North: The junior went 20-2 at No. 1 singles.
Kathryn Wilson, Columbus North: The freshman went 22-0 at No. 2 singles and 1-0 at No. 1 singles.
Tiffany Fu, Columbus North: The junior went 18-5 at No. 1 doubles.
Jaline Tay, Columbus North: The senior went 16-5 at No. 1 doubles.
Sydney Cooper, Columbus North: The junior went 15-6 at No. 2 doubles.
Leah George, Columbus North: The junior went 15-6 at No. 2 doubles.
Arya Gotoh, Columbus North: The junior went 8-7 at No. 3 singles.
Emily Harker, Hauser: The senior went 13-6 at No. 1 doubles and was regional doubles finalist.
Aunaka Wasil, Hauser: The senior went 13-6 at No. 1 doubles and was regional doubles finalist.
Annelise Lollar, Edinburgh: The senior went 8-10 at No. 1 singles.
Reagan Brown, Jennings County: The junior went 18-6 at No. 1 singles.
Honorable mention
Brown County: Londyn Koester, Katie Tipton. Columbus East: Katie Hong, Cathrine Millwood, Ayano Nomura. Columbus North: Zoe Bishop, Siri Poludasu. Edinburgh: Bethany Burton. Hauser: Andie Clark. Jennings County: Tatum Brown, Sydney Carson, Liz Ertel.
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