How two Peoria tennis stars took different paths to the game, and to 100 career varsity wins

PEORIA — Shikha Agarwal and Olivia Reynolds are on the opposite side of the net when it comes to high school girls tennis, opponents on the two premier powers in the Peoria area.

But they share a common stage this season, both reaching 100 career varsity victories.

Agarwal did that as the No. 1 singles player for Dunlap High School, building her legacy in a long line of great Eagles players past and present.

Who's going to state? Here are the 13 Peoria-area players headed to the IHSA girls tennis state finals

Reynolds did it out of the No. 2 singles slot with Richwoods High School, and partnering with teammate Julia Wojtowicz to form a doubles tandem that finished third in the Class 1A state finals last season, the best showing by a girls doubles tandem in the Peoria area in 30 years.

Now both emerge from area sectionals with a berth in the 2023 state finals, which start Thursday in the Chicago area.

A late start toward greatness

Agarwal won a spot on the Dunlap varsity as a freshman, playing at No. 3 singles on a team of juniors and seniors.

"When I joined I was the only freshman on the team," she said. "I looked up to Taylor Disharoon and Emily Yu. They were so driven, the two seniors I followed.

"I know that I can be seen as a role model to the younger people on the team. It's my turn."

Agarwal got a late start in tennis, not taking up the game until she was in seventh grade. She was a swimmer at a young age, thriving competitively with the Dunlap Dolphins swim club, where she handled the 50 and 100 breaststroke. In middle school, she added volleyball, track and cross country.

"Tennis was not my first sport," she said. "But I fell in love with it after going to a Bradley camp. I had made it to state swimming with the Dunlap Dolphins. But I enjoyed tennis so much, I felt like it was a sport I could play forever. It just took over.

"Going into freshman year of high school I chose tennis because it had my whole heart."

Agarwal is the only child of two doctors. Her father, Dev, is an emergency room doctor at Graham Hospital in Canton. Her mother, Ranjana, retired her medical practice to stay at home and raise Shikha.

Her parents are Bombay, India, natives, and came to the U.S. for medical school.

"My parents were not that involved in sports when they were in India because it's not prevalent there," Agarwal said. "They supported me, saw I loved tennis and had fun playing it. My dad practices with me and watches all my matches. My mom is my rock, always been there for me. Every match, every day."

Agarwal may be an only child, but she does have an abundance of brothers. She practices in the offseason with the Dunlap boys team — past and present members — at The Clubs at River City in Peoria.

"They call me their little sister," Agarwal said, laughing. "I didn't know that many people when I started playing tennis, and these guys were the first ones I started playing with.

"I play USTA tournaments, have a great opportunity to hit with the guys at Dunlap, it's been great experience gained. Hey, I can beat half of them. Being more competitive pushes me."

In fact, when asked what pro tour player she would want to face on the court if given the chance, she didn't pick Serena Williams or any other female star. She picked Carlos Alcaraz, who held a No. 1 world ranking in 2022.

"Because I play against guys, I'd want to play against him," she said. "He's so spontaneous, moves really well, and even if he's down he has the fantastic ability to come back and he gets the crowd with him."

Unique journey of Richwoods tennis ace: 100 wins, helicopters and New York

Agarwal, meanwhile, goes back to state hoping to go a little further. She has a 121-22 varsity record, and 103 of those wins were earned in singles play. She won the Galesburg Sectional singles championship last week to gain state. She is at 30-6 this season, the second-most wins among girls singles players in Illinois.

She beat Richwoods singles star Wojtowicz last season, then lost a magnificent rematch Sept. 30, a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6) battle between the two Peoria elite players.

"I want to thank Coach Pat Gornik for being such a strong leader, and all our assistant coaches," Agarwal said. "It's a new energy on the team this year. We're really hoping for a good finish at state."

And will state mark the finish of Agarwal's tennis career?

"I have a lot of NCAA Div-II and Div-III offers from the Midwest and some from the East Coast," she said. "I have offers from Millikin, Illinois Wesleyan, contact from Case Western Reserve and many others.

"I'm going to take the pre-med track in college in hopes of being a doctor. I'd like to play tennis in college though, and if the situation is right I will do it."

A rising star at Richwoods

Olivia Reynolds earned her 100th varsity tennis victory in late September, and was at 112 by the time the team surprised her with a celebration on Oct. 2. The junior — who teamed with Wojtowicz last season to finish third at IHSA state in Class 1A — nearly ran away as her celebration was about to unfold.

"My match was finished, and Coach Cole was telling me toward the end to prolong the match," Reynolds said. "I wasn't sure why. Then it ended and he said, 'Let's hit some groundstrokes, so I thought he wanted me to get some extra work.

"I looked and saw my family leaving toward the exit, and I wanted to say goodbye to them so I took off running."

And what she ended up running into was a tent set up as a surprise celebration to mark her 100th win.

Her family and teammates and coaches gathered around, shot video, and made it a moment.

"I saw everyone there and it was a shock," she said, laughing. "It made sense. It was such a nice surprise."

Reynolds, whose father is Bradley vice-president for intercollegiate athletics Dr. Chris Reynolds, is 18-2 working out of the No. 2 slot in singles, and 23-6 in doubles alongside Wojtowicz.

"The 100 wins thing, I've had some advantages," said Reynolds, who would be a No. 1 singles player on most area teams. "I play No. 2 on the team (a matchup advantage), and in doubles I get to play with Julia.

"All of these wins, it's not just me. I've played doubles with Theresa (Bartelme), and Julia, gotten support from teammates and family, coaching from Mr. Cole. It's all really helped."

Background: Richwoods duo becomes part of Peoria history at IHSA girls tennis state finals

Reynolds is a two-time all-state player in Class 1A, landing third-team honors as a freshman and first-team last season as a sophomore.

"Olivia is a very tough baseliner with great speed," Cole said. "She has earned a reputation as a tough opponent and a great teammate. She's just a really nice kid who competes as hard as she works."

Reynolds is a high-caliber athlete, so why tennis as opposed to other sports?

"I've had this conversation a lot," she said. "Tennis matches my athletic ability. For me, I don't like running, yet I'm super fast on the court. It's all the things I like doing.

"Soccer, that's too much running. Tennis, I'm confined to the court and I'm controlling it."

She used to play against her dad, but jokes about the former basketball star and his apparent retirement as a practice opponent.

"You can still play tennis when you're old, another thing I like about it," she said. "My dad stopped playing me around seventh grade, though. He doesn't like to lose. I try to give him easy shots, but he's so competitive."

Reynolds knows she and her doubles partner, Wojtowicz, won't face any easy shots this week at state, especially now that Richwoods has been moved up to Class 2A.

"Class 2A is so much different than last year," Reynolds said. "We are at a whole new level of competition. We've played high-seed projected people all year.

"Julia, she just decided to smack people off the court and that's what she's been doing. We're playing the best we've ever played."

And Reynolds still has another year to build that win total.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 100 wins: two Peoria tennis stars took different paths to milestone