Many high school athletes dream of making it to the state tournament. Only the elite ever accomplish the feat.

For Oak Harbor tennis player Ashley LaFountain, she’s managed to accomplish that feat three times.

At the 2011 Division II state tournament, while competing in a bracket that featured 16 players, LaFountain fell in the first round to Portsmouth’s Mollie Miller, 6-2, 6-1. Still, the state runner-up, Lexington’s Courtney Earnest, actually lost to LaFountain in the district semifinals a few weeks earlier.

“On any given day, any one of us can beat each other,” she said of top players, who compete against one another in offseason tournaments.

In addition to qualifying for state three times, she’s also won the Sandusky Bay Conference and the sectional tournament three times. During her first two seasons, she finished third at the district tournament before coming in second this season.

For LaFountain, her devotion to tennis stems from being introduced to the sport as a child by her father, Rick, who’s been an area tennis coach for many years. 

“We grew up playing tennis,” said Ashley. “We didn’t know any other way. I helped my dad out (at practice) and I’d go out and hit with him when the (tennis) season was going on. I think my dad has been a really big influence.”

Rick LaFountain has been a presence in the area’s tennis community for nearly 20 years. Since 1992, LaFountain, a 1983 graduate of Oak Harbor High, has coached boys and/or girls tennis in Fremont or Oak Harbor. This is his second go-around as both the boys and girls coach at his alma mater, with his first stint as the girls coach taking place from 1991-97, and his first stint with the boys team taking place from 1992-94.

He’s also coached tennis teams at Fremont Ross (boys coach, 1995-206; girls coach, 2003-07), where he teaches freshman history and government. In addition to having taught 22 years, he has coached boys and girls tennis for a total of 34 seasons.

Ashley first began playing tennis around the age of eight when she would hit the ball around with her father after he was done coaching practice. In fact, LaFountain recalls competing in her first United States Tennis Association tournament when she was just 10-years-old.

“I got my butt kicked and that motivated me (to get better),” she said.

Since then, she’s competed in tournaments and consistently practiced with her father and her brother, Greg.

She currently has a bit of a rivalry going on with Greg, a freshman at the University of Toledo who is majoring in pharmacy. Greg was a standout tennis player in high school himself, falling just short of qualifying for the state tournament last season. He also holds the school record for career victories in tennis for boys.

However, it is Ashley, with a career record of 101-11 (.902), who holds the school record for career victories.

She is also considering playing tennis in college, possibly as a doubles player, but, with a year-and-a-half of high school remaining, she’s taking things slowly.

“A few (colleges) have talked to me,” she said. “I’m just trying to keep my options open and trying to get better this offseason.”

The junior tennis player, who went 34-3 this season, competes in approximately 30 tournaments in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana during the offseason and stays sharp by training at several indoor facilities, among them the Perrysburg Tennis Center.

Rick LaFountain credits his daughter with having matured a great deal during her three years of competition, noting the physical fitness training she’s endured to become a better athlete.

“I think she’s improved a lot,” he said. “I think her physical fitness has helped. She’s stronger and faster and she’s been lifting weights and running.”

He also notes that she has a better understanding of the game.

“She’s getting a little more tennis-mature — she’s figuring out how to make adjustments quicker.”

Ashley agrees.

“I think my game has gotten much better,” she said. “I’m in better shape (and) when I’m doing something wrong, I know how to fix it. It’s mainly just a mental thing.”

Needless to say, Rick LaFountain is quite proud of what his daughter has accomplished this season, despite not advancing at state in her third attempt.

“The best-case scenario happened for everything. She won the district, sectional and SBC and qualified for state,” Rick said.

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