Seniors lead way for Center Grove tennis

<p><strong>I</strong>n assembly line fashion, senior classes arrive in the Center Grove girls tennis program, leave legacies that are uniquely their own and eventually exit.</p><p>Each is special to coach Debby Burton, and understandably so given the unique blending of personalities, on-court talent and memories made from the time winter conditioning begins to the end of the postseason.</p><p>As for the nine 12th-graders on the current Trojans roster, their accomplishments — regardless of what they might be by season’s end — will forever hold a special place in their coach’s heart.</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic erased any possibility of a 2020 season, making it a challenge for a program that advanced to the state semifinals the year before to maintain its momentum as only two of the seven starters from 2019 (Ashlee Fisk and Sydney Plowman) are still on the team this season.</p><p>And, yet, here we are.</p><p>Not only are the seniors setting a ridiculously high bar academically, they’ve led Burton’s 23rd Trojans squad to a recent Johnson County tournament title and No. 8 state ranking.</p><p>Four of the seniors are presently in the varsity starting lineup — Fisk at No. 1 singles, Sonya Vyas at No. 2 singles and the top doubles combination of Plowman and Sapna Vyas. The others are Sophia Culver, Emma Foley, Avery Murphy, Kayla Poe and Isabelle Wasserman.</p><p>“I would say we’re all very connected. Very family-oriented,” Culver said. “I know we’ve all been together since our freshman year, and we all have a different thing that we bring to the team. We make it a point that we’re all supporting each other.”</p><p>It’s a group that, collectively, is proving more and more special with each competition.</p><p>“I think these girls faced a different challenge than other classes have faced with the fact they had sophomore and freshman (teammates) that had not seen a season. And there are some new juniors,” Burton said. “They needed to envelope and bring all of these girls in and let them understand how we do things.</p><p>“What the commitment is. What our energy level is during practice. How we communicate and how we treat people. They have put all kinds of energy into making sure that every single person is comfortable on this team and feels a part of this team.”</p><p>The seniors are accomplishing that while flourishing in the classroom.</p><p>Sapna Vyas, the elder of the twins by two minutes, carries a 4.80 grade-point average and is ranked second academically among the 598 students in the class. Sonya is fourth with a 4.79 GPA, while Plowman is ninth with a 4.69.</p><p>All three will attend college on full-ride academic scholarships — Sapna Vyas to the University of Texas in Dallas to major in pre-med, Sonya Vyas to Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and Plowman to the University of Miami (Florida) as a neuroscience major.</p><p>Fisk, also an excellent student, will continue her tennis career at Indiana Wesleyan, where she will major in nursing.</p><p>“A lot of us have known each other through different tennis clinics, even outside of Center Grove,” Sapna Vyas said. “But, also, we’ve all played on the middle school tennis team as well and have formed really close bonds with each other throughout the years.</p><p>“In terms of doing as well as we are this year, I think it’s because we’ve worked so hard, even during COVID trying to find as many practices as possible.”</p><p>Having a tennis season taken away from them made the seniors appreciate the current one all the more. Practices, bus rides to road matches and encouraging teammates during competition.</p><p>“This season has been amazing because I can’t even tell you what it was like last year when we were told our season would be taken away from us,” Plowman said. “We did morning conditioning in the month before the season starts, and even then I found myself looking forward to it.”</p><p>In all, there are 30 players on Burton’s roster, 21 of whom are underclassmen. Such a number might hint at the possibility of some players eventually straying off course, but not at Center Grove.</p><p>Not with this senior class.</p><p>“Our whole team is a family,” Sonya Vyas said. “Luckily, we have the same interests and like talking about the same types of things, so it’s really easy to get along with each other.”</p>