Strong group of players have returned in girls tennis
Sunday, August 6, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Senior Arya Chabria is the top returnee for the Columbus Academy girls tennis team. Photo: Jarrod Ulrey
With five key players returning after it reached the state team tournament for the first time in 16 years, the New Albany girls tennis team is embracing the expectations surrounding its high-caliber status in central Ohio.
The Eagles like to start with smaller goals and build up to bigger ones as the season ages, a strategy that served them well last fall when they placed third in Division I in the OTCA tournament and finished 19-3 overall.
“Our first priority is winning the (OCC-Ohio Division),” coach Marc Thomas said. “It would be a huge honor to represent the Central District at state again and we’ll hopefully get some players to state.
“Obviously going to the final four and winning the district title last year was a big step for our team. There’s still some really good teams in central Ohio who we’ll have to play well against.”
New Albany’s duo of seniors Richardlyne Francois and Paige Cornelius, who went on to earn a runner-up finish in the OHSAA state doubles tournament, gives the program a strong baseline to work with.
During the regular season last fall, Francois played first singles and Cornelius was at second singles.
“We’re pretty excited for the season and we’re willing to do more work to go further in the state tournament,” Francois said. “We had so much fun.”
According to Cornelius, who has committed to play field hockey at Harvard, the Eagles are looking forward to facing what she believes will be an even more competitive central Ohio slate than a year ago.
Francois and Cornelius didn’t win district in either of the last two seasons, which presents an illustration of the depth that central Ohio should possess in both singles and doubles.
Senior Lydia Foster is a two-time state qualifier who has returned to lead the Dublin Jerome girls tennis team. Photo: Jarrod Ulrey
There likely isn’t a better singles player in the area than Bexley sophomore Amiya Bowles, who has never lost a prep match and last year didn’t lose a set while capturing the Division II state singles championship.
According to Lions coach Heath Goolsby, Bowles is expected to join the team in mid-August. She competed in her first prep contest Aug. 31 of last season and finished 21-0, including beating Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy’s Sophia Thompson 6-0, 6-3 for the state title.
One of her toughest matches last season came when she defeated Dublin Jerome’s Pritika Ghosh Choudhuri 6-0, 7-6 in mid-September.
Ghosh Choudhuri, now a senior, reached a state singles quarterfinal as a sophomore and lost in the first round at state last season and again is expected to be among central Ohio’s top singles players.
Junior Lauren Burkett, who teamed with 2023 graduate Emily Yoshino to finish third in doubles at district a year ago, is expected to be at second singles after the loss to graduation of three-time state qualifier Dasha Chistyakova.
“There’s a lot of talented girls coming back this year, so it’ll certainly be challenging,” Ghosh Choudhuri said. “I learned how to deal with pressure better while balancing academics. Last year was my junior year, which is famous for the rigor of academics, and you have more pressure to do better for the team. I learned how to be a better teammate and deal with pressure better.”
Ghosh Choudhuri beat Chistyakova 6-4, 6-3 for the district title and Olentangy’s Sheryl Gerald defeated Dublin Jerome’s Lydia Foster 6-2, 6-2 in the consolation last fall.
Gerald, a junior, and Foster, a senior, are two of the area’s other top returning players in Division I.
Foster also teamed with senior Adayla Coakley to reach state in doubles in 2021, but Coakley missed last year’s regular season with an injury. Coakley then had her season end in the first round of the district doubles tournament when she teamed up with Chetana Killada, a junior who is another key returnee for the Celtics.
“I’ve been working pretty much every day over the summer, and over the winter I try to play as much as I can,” Foster said. “Central Ohio should be pretty good this year and should be able to compete neck and neck with northern Ohio and southern Ohio.
“State is definitely a huge challenge because you go from playing the people just from around here to playing the best people. It’s a big jump between levels and you have to be prepared for that level. It was really fun to go to state and is always one of my goals. It was definitely a great experience.”
Junior Tamanna Aryais among the key players for the Columbus Academy girls tennis team. Photo: Jarrod Ulrey
Watterson senior Sara Goodlive, Olentangy Berlin sophomore Allison Snyder and Upper Arlington sophomore Dani Ball were the other Division I district quarterfinalists eligible to return.
Another returning district singles qualifier for New Albany is junior Airi Clements.
Also for UA, senior Isabella Roth and junior Alice Hawley reached state in doubles a year ago.
“In central Ohio, there’s always a good crop of talent,” Coffman coach Brett Hundertpfund said. “This year’s no exception. For us, we obviously graduated two of our stars in Dasha and Emily, but it’s nice to have Pritika and Lauren coming back.
“Pritika made it to state and lost in the first round in singles and Emily and Lauren lost in the first round in doubles. As a coach, you have to help them realize it’s such a big deal to even get there. It’s obviously not the result you want, but they’re all amazing players and had great seasons.”
Bowles isn’t the only talented returning player in central Ohio in Division II.
Columbus Academy should be led by seniors Arya Chabria, Yasemin Bilgin and Grace Philip and junior Tamanna Arya.
Chabria played first singles last season but teamed with Bilgin to win the Division II district doubles title. Philip and 2023 graduate Anna Chang lost in a district doubles semifinal and Arya lost in a district singles semifinal.
The Vikings finished 17-2 overall, including placing third in the OTCA state team tournament.
Preston Eberlyn, a 2011 Centennial graduate who had been serving as the middle school coach at Academy, is in his first season heading the program.
“I feel very good (about the team),” Eberlyn said. “They’ve got a lot of team chemistry and they’re all good friends and like each other, which is really important. I’m feeling pretty good about our chances in central Ohio. I think we’ll have some tough competition, but we’ll always go out and compete.”