By the time Megan Galle graduated from Columbus East in 2015, she established herself as one of the top tennis players to come through the program.
Galle continued her tennis career at DePauw, where she excelled there, as well.
DePauw women’s tennis coach Scott Riggle informed Galle recently that he had selected her as a nomination for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Arthur Ashe Award. The Arthur Ashe Award is presented to tennis players who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.
Riggle said Galle possessed all those qualities, which made his choice a no-brainer.
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An example Riggle recalls was during a match Galle’s freshman year playing against a nationally-ranked team during indoor nationals. The score was tied 4-4, and it came down to Galle’s match as the decider. Riggle noticed he saw the poise and grit very little freshman players possessed at the time, and it helped Galle win the two-set marathon.
Riggle said Galle has been one of his most dependable tennis players ever since.
“She is a wonderful athlete, a hard worker in the classroom and on the court. She is eminently coachable,” Riggle said. “She always put the team first, and she is very empathetic. As our senior captain, she has her finger on the pulse of every teammate. She communicates extremely well.
“Her sportsmanship is just as impressive,” he added. “She plays fair, hard and with grace. She keeps winning and losing in perspective. She is thoughtful before, during and after the match. She loses with grace and dignity and wins with class and humility. She’s a coaches’ dream and a worthy recipient of this prestigious award named after the great Arthur Ashe.”
Last week, Riggle heard back from the ITA that Galle was named as the Central Region winner and is hoping to win the award nationally. The national winner of the Arthur Ashe Award will be announced today.
“I was really excited about it when I found out,” Galle said. “I knew that (Riggle) was going to apply me for the award. I really didn’t think that it would get to this point. I was more focused on working out for our doubles match (with Sarah Wilder) just in case we ended up making the tournament. So, it was really a nice surprise.”
Galle and Wilder are hoping to make her way into the Division III Women’s Tennis Championships in doubles. The NCAA singles and doubles championships are hosted by Kalamazoo (Michigan) College.
Currently, the pair are the second alternate. Galle said the team plans to make the trip to Kalamazoo later this week in hopes of possibly getting selected. She has been practicing with Wilder about five days a week since the regular season ended in late April.
“We want to make sure our skills are where they need to be if we do end up getting a chance,” Galle said “It can be a little hard in the beginning trying to stay motivated after our team season ended, but I think we started to realize that if nothing else, at least we can spend these last two weeks playing some good tennis together, spending some time with our coaches and just getting to play tennis together for the last time. We hope we get a chance, but if nothing else, at least we knew we worked hard the last couple weeks, and we know we’ll be ready if we do get the chance.”
To begin her collegiate career, Galle was named the Women’s North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Player of the Week as a freshman. She was All-NCAC First Team in doubles, All-NCAC Second Team in singles and made the NCAC Academic Honor Roll as a junior. This season, her senior year, she was named All-NCAC First Team in doubles with Wilder and All-NCAC First Team in singles.
Galle graduated from DePauw Sunday with a degree in psychology. She said her time with the Tigers’ program has been the best.
“Coming in as a freshman, they lost a bunch of starters, but had two of the best captains I had,” Galle said. “I owe everything to them and to our coaches. I think without that strong leadership at the beginning of this whole process, I don’t think I would have been able to come close to the player I am today. Coach Riggle has an outstanding character and one of the best persons that I’ve known. He focuses on your character and how you present yourself on the court and playing fair and treating your teammates and opponents with respect. Without it, I don’t think I’m where I’m at as a tennis player today.”
At the end of June, Galle will be moving to Nashville, Tennessee, to work for Cummins in the Human Resources Department as a retirement benefits specialist. She interned with the organization last summer and is familiar with employees there.
Before she moves, she has some trips planned out with her mother, Jamie, and with her friends.
“I’m going to try to travel a little bit before I head down there and join the real world,” Galle said.
Galle said she hopes to continue her passion for tennis. Starting out, she wants to potentially join a league where she’ll still hit and play and also give a couple lessons on the side. One of her ultimate tennis goals way down the road is hopefully becoming a teaching pro.
“I know it’s going to be a lot of work and a very tough process,” Galle said. “Hopefully, it all eventually works out.”
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Name: Megan Galle
High school: Columbus East
College: DePauw (graduated on Sunday)
Major: Psychology
Tennis honors: named Women’s North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Player of the Week as a freshman; All-NCAC First Team in doubles, All-NCAC Second Team in singles and NCAC Academic Honor Roll as a junior; All-NCAC First Team in doubles and All-NCAC First Team in singles as a senior; national finalist for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Arthur Ashe Award
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