“I’m gonna be honest with you… she’s very intimidating. She kind of scares me,” junior Erin Wheeler said jokingly.
“She’s an awesome leader and always is supporting the team 100 percent,” sophomore Peyton Pessavento said.
“She’s reliable; I can count on her,” varsity women’s tennis coach Johnny Highsmith said.
Senior Charlotte Ririe has been playing tennis since before she can remember. Both of her sisters, Caroline and Katherine Ririe, played for the Mount Tabor varsity women’s tennis team during their time at the school.
“My sisters played tennis and so I play tennis,” Ririe said.
Along with playing tennis, Ririe also snow skis and goes to the gym regularly. She played field hockey until the seventh or eighth grade, when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and meniscus. The injury resulted in surgery and prohibited her from continuing to play afterwards.
Ririe has served as tennis co-captain, with fellow senior Anne Hayden Wray, during her fourth and final year on the team. Her favorite parts of playing on the team include being with her friends and being “better than Tabor”.
“Every girl (on the team) I consider my close friend,” Ririe said. “We’re really a tight knit group.”
This sentiment is echoes by her teammates.
“This is (Ririe and I’s) third year playing together,” Wheeler said. “We developed a special bond. We hold hands sometimes.”
While Ririe is very amicable off the courts, she is a strong opponent when it comes game time.
“When I’m at the net and she says ‘Erin, I’m coming for your head”, she comes for my head,” Wheeler said.
Her playing strengths are recognized by mentors as well.
“Her forehand,” Highsmith said on Ririe’s strengths. “She digs well and her volley is underrated. I think her serve serves her well, no pun intended.”
Ririe has played number one doubles for her entire high school tennis career, playing with some of the best players in the state.
“Living up to that pressure is hard and she’s done it,” Highsmith said. “She’s always been able to handle that.”
Along with being strong on the courts, Ririe also has a solid list of extracurricular achievements.
“I am vice president of Senior Girls Service Club,” Ririe said. “I am founder and president of Operation Smile Club. I am a presiding officer for Youth and Government.”
While Ririe has many outside leadership positions, her role as captain of the tennis team is particularly well-deserved.
“She’s one of the best captains I’ve had,” Highsmith commented. “She’s taken control, she’s done many things she’s not had to have been asked all the time [to do] and she’s relished the role.”
Ririe sums up her love for the sport best by saying, “Go team. Go Reynolds. Go Demons.”