Tennis state title highlights fall success at Ashley Hall

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

Charleston - There is no better way to complete an undefeated season than with a state title, and the Ashley Hall tennis team did just that with a SCISA AAAA state championship victory over Trinity Collegiate on Oct. 10.

The title win capped a 23-0 season for the Panthers, who successfully defended the state title they won last season.

“Just a dream season for a group of girls who work so hard,” coach Charlotte Hartsock said. “We beat a lot of good teams, some public schools as well. This team worked for everything they got and they deserve this.”

Highlights were winning the pre-season tournament in Florence, defeating Myrtle Beach, T.L. Hanna and A.C. Flora in that tournament.



“I knew after that tournament that we had a good chance,’ Hartsock said. “You never know how a season will play out but I felt like we had a state championship team.”

Ashley Hall also won the Bishop England tournament, posting wins over Charlotte Latin, Mauldin and Wando. The Panthers also beat Lucy Beckham, a state title contender in Class AAAAA of the SCHSL, twice during the season.

Hartsock had an experienced team this fall. The starting singles lineup included seniors Lily Sloan, Emma Tedford and Grace Taylor. Sloan, who played the No. 1 singles position, posted a 14-6 record this season and was named the region player of the year.

“Lily was on the team for five years and played No. 1 for the last three seasons,” Hartsock said. “She played every team’s best player and she was such a battler.”

Tedford played No. 4 singles and had a 21-0 record, while Taylor was 20-1 in the No. 5 singles slot. Kate Strenck was the team’s fourth senior.

“We had great leadership from our seniors and they made sure we had the right chemistry,” Hartsock said.

Junior Emily Kaye was 19-2 at No. 2 singles and freshman Bridgette DeWolf was 19-1 at No. 3. Sophomore Charlotte Guffey was 13-1 as the No. 6 singles player.

“We will miss those seniors but we should be fine next year,” said Hartsock. “We have some good young players in the program and the junior varsity team has some good talent.”

Swim team places second at state meet

Ashley Hall’s swim team competed in the SCISA AAAA state meet, finishing as the state runner-up in the final team standings.

Among the top individual performers was Reves Sidebottom, who took second in the 100-yard freestyle and third in the 50-yard freestyle. Amelia Lennon took third in the 200-yard freestyle and swam fifth in the 100-yard butterfly.

Amelia DeWolf placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle and fifth in the 200-yard individual medley. Ella Sidebottom finished fifth in the 100-freestyle. In relay events, Ashley Hall placed second in the 400-yard relay and fifth in the 200-yard relay.