Prep tennis: Flying Eagles look to move on from loss of big seniors
Two years ago, the Woodrow Wilson boys tennis team won its first regional championship in 31 years. Last season, the Flying Eagles played for the state championship, falling to defending champion Hurricane. It was a nice little run for the Flying Eagles, who now must move on without the two players hugely responsible for that success.
Ram Asaithambi and Ethan Shepard have graduated. Asaithambi is focused on academics, for the time being, at Duke, while Shepard is finding success in college tennis at West Liberty. They formed Woodrow’s No.
1 doubles team and finished as state runner-up the last two seasons. Asaithambi was a two-time state semifinalist in singles. “They were both leaders by the way they played all four years,” Flying Eagles coach Bernie Bostick said.
“Ram was a little more vocal. Ethan, he didn't speak to us till he was a junior. He did his leadership by playing more than anything else.
“They both played really hard, and they left us their legacy — you’ve got to go and you’ve got to give 100%, it doesn’t make any difference. ” Taking their spots not only as Woodrow’s top doubles team but as the top two singles players are junior Vince Umberger at No. 1 and senior Tyler Radford at No.