WOOSTER ― Wooster High School girls tennis standout Ava Mathur had no shortage of role models growing up.
The first was in her own house.
Older sister Sophia was the Generals’ No. 1 singles player for her first three years of high school. But Ava took over that spot in the lineup as a freshman, and Sophia became the mentor and helped guide Ava through that first year of varsity play.
“I always looked up to my sister,” said Mathur. “She was always someone I looked up to academically and in sports, I wanted to be a leader on the team, just like she was.”
In one of her biggest matches as a freshman, she went toe-to-toe with Walsh’s Emma Kealy, and for Mathur, it was heckuva introduction to varsity high school tennis. It was a match she ended up pulling out, but one that stuck with her.
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“I was extremely nervous, I was so scared,” said Mathur. “I ended up playing well and ended up beating her, but that’s when I realized that I had some big shoes to fill and high expectations.”
And over the next four years, Ava went from being mentored to the one doing the mentoring.
Over her four years, the Wooster senior racked up a 115-26 record, including a 29-7 finish in 2024. She racked up three trips to state, was a three-time OCC champion and helped the Generals extend their conference dominance to five straight titles. When the dust cleared, she finished among the leaders in program history, behind only the legendary Vicki Dunbar, who was 136-1 and won three straight state titles in 1977-79.
“It means a lot to me,” said Mathur when asked about her ranking in program history. “It’s just amazing, because I know how amazing Vicki was. It also just shows how much work I put in and how much time I gave.”
However, one of her biggest accomplishments this fall wasn’t measured in wins or losses, but in the improvement of teammates Hailey Jung and Alyssa Rae-McIntosh. Both sophomores, they developed light years from the start of the season, to where McIntosh just missed making it out of a tough sectional and Jung finished fourth at districts. Both credit Mathur for guiding them, being there for them and working with them to develop their games.
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“I saw a lot of myself in them,” said Mathur about working with Jung and McIntosh. “I struggled with confidence, and I know how much tennis is a mental sport, and just having no confidence, I’ve been there. I wanted to help them, so they didn’t have to feel the pressure or the weight of the world on them and to see them do what they did, it was great, and I loved seeing them improve over the years.”
As she walks away for the final time, there aren’t any regrets, just an enjoyment for the years spent and memories that she will take with her. Mathur left it all on the tennis court, gave it everything she had and now she has the memories and Wooster has her legacy.
“It’s how she conducts herself, her commitment to practice and the whole program,” said Generals coach Cordell Smith of Mathur’s legacy. “All of that is infectious and then you begin to see it from the younger girls like Alyssa and Hailey, Elizabeth hits with Ava during the week and Hailey and Alyssa are at the racquet club four-to-five times a week. They saw the work that Ava put in, the commitment she had to honing her craft, they are willing to put in the same work.
“She could be hard on the team during warmups,” he added. “She was also coaching, giving advice to the girls, talking things with me and they wanted to be like her. It’s a snowball effect to be honest. I see it from the middle school tennis players, it’s all because of Ava, and the legacy she leaves behind.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Leaving her mark: What Ava Mathur’s legacy means for Wooster tennis
