She's got game

It was her 12th birthday, an event, as was customary for all its students on their birthdays, that was heralded on Rock Quarry Middle School’s morning announcements broadcast on the intercom in all the classrooms.

Among those hearing Ava Rath’s name mentioned over the speaker system was Northridge High School girls tennis coach John Cain who teaches morning classes at Rock Quarry.

“I keep up with tournament results involving our local players, and I’d seen her name,” Cain said. “I was listening to the birthday announcements one morning, and I heard them say her name and thought, ‘Oh? She goes here?’ So I went to her PE class and met her.”

That meeting led to what is, perhaps, one of the most special birthday presents Rath ever received. Cain invited the seventh grader to try out for Northridge’s High varsity team.

Eight months later, Rath was celebrating an Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 6A state tennis team championship with her new teammates. She was also making history, at age 12, as one of the youngest tennis champions. She won the state’s Class 6A No. 2 singles title.

“The night before, I barely slept. But that day, I just went out there — I realized I had nothing to lose.

“It was surreal until I got off the court,” said Rath of the moment her finals match ended. “I got off the court, and then I started thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh. That was a state championship.’ “

Her delight was doubled when she learned Northridge dominated the state tournament. The Jaguars ended with 63 points while second-place Florence had 43 points. In addition to Rath’s singles championship, Northridge brought home three more individual titles.

Grace Evans won the championship at No. 4 singles and Ana Caroline Sullivan at No. 6 singles. In doubles, Allison Stegall and Carson Ryan teamed to win at No. 3 doubles. And Bella Swindoll had come a win away from a championship, making it to the final at No. 3 singles.

“Ana Caroline clinched the state championship for us as a team,” Rath said. “When I found out we won, it was amazing.”

Rath had a first-round bye and drew Hillcrest‘s Kenna Eldridge, who Rath described as her hardest match “because she’s a great player.” Rath won, 7-5, 6-3. She defeated a player from Decatur High in the semifinals, and defeated Jasper’s Amelia Poolos, 6-0, 6-2, in the finals.

That she raced through the state championships isn’t really surprising given her tennis success so far. Rath started playing when she was 5. They were living in Gulfport, Mississippi, at the time and her mom signed her up for tennis camp. It was a test of sorts. Ava’s mom was trying to figure out what sport her daughter might want to take up.

Turns out, the kid liked tennis.

Three years later Rath stepped into competitive play. A move to Tuscaloosa found her playing and training at NorthRiver Yacht Club under then tennis director — and former Wimbledon player — Gary Henderson and former collegiate and professional player, Igor Sanchez. They encouraged her to compete.

“I didn’t know much about competition. They played professionally, so they knew what I needed to do. They guided me to where I needed to go. They coached me and helped me with what I needed to do,” Rath said.

Rath ranks No. 1 in Alabama in USTA 12U, No. 23 in the southern section and No. 502 in the nation. She helped Alabama’s 12U USTA team win the bronze by finishing third in the Southern Junior Cup which invites the top three players in each state in its region. This past weekend, she won all four of her matches at the USTA Pre Collegiate Team Challenge for Level 3. Its field includes only the top 48 nationally-ranked players. Her wins helped her team — which included players from Maryland, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana — finish third.

Playing as an individual in national and regional tournaments is her normal. But, having just turned 12 and playing on a high school team — it wasn’t even her own school — was something altogether different.

“I was so nervous. I was asking myself, ‘What am I getting into?’ " Rath said.

She knew some of her teammates from playing in clinics and tournaments together. But that’s not the same as being 12 and suddenly finding herself on their high school team.

“I was so thankful that all the girls were so accepting. They really supported me through everything,” said Rath.

Opponents were another matter. Class 6A is the second-largest division in AHSAA sports. She was playing against athletes from the biggest schools in the state at the second-highest seed as all her matches were at No. 2 singles — and she was winning. She went undefeated.

“A lot of the people I played were very surprised when they’d go to the No. 2 court singles and they’d see the smaller person on a team. They were really confused,” Rath said.

“She’d go to matches, and I’d overhear people saying, ‘That’s the seventh grader,’ " said Ava's mother, Robin Rath. “At her challenge match to make the team, she was playing Grace Evans, who is a senior, and Grace said, ‘Man, you hit hard for a little girl.’ "

On the day of state finals, Rath played two singles and one doubles match. She had 20 minutes between the singles semifinal and the championship match.

“I was really nervous about my match but also about us winning state. But all the girls were calming me down. My teammates were saying things like, ‘You got this.’ They were just encouraging me and helping me stay calm. They just were really sweet. I could tell that they really cared. They made me believe I could do it.”