2022 NewsTribune Girls Tennis Player of the Year: L-P’s Carlie Miller

After placing in the top 24 at the IHSA Class 1A State Tennis Tournament as a junior, La Salle-Peru’s Carlie Miller spent the offseason working on her game.

Through the winter she took private lessons the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, and during the summer she played with a team based in Sterling.

“I definitely improved my game a lot,” Miller said. “I felt like I played smarter this year, and I really increased my aggressiveness while playing, which really helped me in the long run.”

Miller’s offseason work showed during her senior season as she went 32-9, won the Interstate 8 Conference Tournament and the Class 1A Ottawa Sectional, placed second in the L-P and Pekin Invites and won a match at state to finish in the top 48.

For all she accomplished this season, Miller is the NewsTribune Girls Tennis Player of the Year for the second straight season.

“I thought I had a really good season this year,” Miller said. “I definitely exceeded my expectations and I accomplished most of the goals I had going into the season. I wanted to improve my record from last year, and I did that. I wanted to win conference and sectional, and I achieved that as well. My last goal was to go further in state than I did last year, which I unfortunately did not accomplish, but I’m still happy about my results this season.

“I’m really proud of myself for everything I’ve achieved. It just shows if you really put your mind to it and be determined, you can do what you want in life.”

L-P coach Aaron Guenther said Miller made a big leap forward in her mental game this season.

“I think this year she grew so much in a strategy standpoint where she’d be able to evaluate a game when it was going to say, ‘Hey, this isn’t working, I should try this,’ or ‘this is really working well, I should try to emphasize this’ or ‘I should try to place the ball here or there to set up this next point,’ ” Guenther said. “She started thinking more long-term as opposed to just trying to get the ball back over. I think her mental game this year was a reason for her big jump.”

Miller credited the private lessons for teaching her “how to place my shots where I want and when I should use the shots,” while she said the travel team in Sterling “really helped me with playing out points.”

“In past seasons, I really had the mentality of playing it safe and just getting the ball over because I was so scared to be aggressive because it could go out,” Miller said. “I just really changed my mentality into thinking, ‘You know how to place these shots. You know how to play.’ That allowed me to execute and have more confidence.

“I definitely think there were several matches this year where if I were to play it safe like I did in years prior, I wouldn’t have won, but since I was a more aggressive player this year, I was able to beat them.”

Miller will look to continue growing her game at the next level as she’s committed to play at Coe College.

“I’m really excited to keep playing tennis in college,” Miller said. “I’ve been playing for 11 years and I couldn’t imagine my life without playing tennis, so I’m excited to see what I can achieve in college.”

Guenther said Miller has great potential to keep improving in college.

“She’s going to be around players who are playing at a higher level every single day,” Guenther said. “I tell her the same thing I told her as a freshman and sophomore at L-P. Your freshman and sophomore years you’re probably going to get your butt kicked then junior year you’re going to start kicking butt and by senior year you’re going to be doing great. Her game will be growing so much by being around those people in that environment and with that college coaching, I think the sky is the limit for her.”