ASHWINI MURTHY prepares to hit a serve in a recent tennis match for North. – Photo by Karey Schuchardt

Ashwini Murthy played her final tennis match for North last week and wrapped up her fourth season on varsity.

She made the state tournament the last two years in doubles after playing singles as a freshman and sophomore.

“She is one of the better players North has seen in a long time and had a really great career,” North coach Andrew Bayliss said. “A couple years of singles, a couple years of doubles, a couple times getting to state and a ton of wins for us. We’re sad to see her go but she had a heck of a career.”

Murthy, who hopes to study environmental sociology or philosophy at Vanderbilt, Duke or Washington in St. Louis, is the latest to participate in “20 questions.”

Q: How many times do people ask you about your first name?

A: Honestly, too many times.

Q: What does the name mean or where did it come from?

A: In the Hindu religion, a lot of stars have names, so it’s just a name of a star.

Q: Do you like the name or would you rather have a different one?

A: Oh I like the name.

Q: If you could be or do anything for a living, what would it be?

A: I would like to be a doctor someday. But when I was really little, I thought it’d be really cool to either be a singer or a professional tennis player.

Q: What’s the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?

A: A couple of weeks ago, my parents were dropping my brother off at college and I had stayed home because of tennis meets. I went to one of my friends’ houses to try on a homecoming dress and they didn’t know about it. They got all frantic about it because they didn’t know where I was and I got in a little bit of trouble for not telling them where I was going.

Q: What is a hidden talent you have?

A: I just recently found out that I can wiggle my ears.

Q: Can you name the best restaurant in the area?

A: My favorite is Il Ritrovo because of their pizza.

Q: What was the most embarrassing moment for you in any sport?

A: I was at tennis camp when I was about 12, and the whole camp was doing a run around the court when I wanted to catch up to my friend. I didn’t look where I was going and I ran right into the fence, and rolled right in front of the whole camp and ended up limping off the court because I was hurt.

Q: What scares you the most?

A: Being alone.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: Hands down The Lion King.

Q: What is the one TV show you always have to watch?

A: That changes. When I was little my dad got me into the really old TV shows like Little House on the Prairie and the Brady Bunch. Now it’s between The Office, Friends and Psych.

Q: Can you name the best band or musician of all time?

A: Oh gosh, that’s a hard one. I really love Ed Sheeran. I think it’s great people like him not just because he’s popular, but because his music is actually really good.

Q: What is the song you enjoy the most but are afraid to admit?

A: I really love the song I Just Can’t Wait to be King from The Lion King.

Q: How would you describe your bedroom?

A: It’s an organized mess.

Q: What’s the longest you’ve been without a cell phone and how did you survive?

A: Probably a week maybe, because I got my phone in eighth grade and I guess I’m not as connected to it as other people are. So I guess I just found other things to do.

Q: What school subject is your least favorite?

A: History. I just don’t find it that interesting. I think it’s cool how we can learn from history and I definitely think it’s important, we should know what are history is, but it just seems like facts to me. It doesn’t have that much application in it.

Q: What celebrity do you have a crush on?

A: Tom Holland.

Q: Favorite and least-favorite athlete?

A: Rafael Nadal is my favorite. I guess I don’t really have a least favorite.

Q: What is the biggest pet peeve you have?

A: When people are walking really slowly in front of me and I can’t pass them because I’m kind of a fast walker.

Q: What’s a superstition you have?

A: I cannot sit down at any point during a tennis match. I just can’t.