Hashmall fights injuries for on court success

Though injuries are the bane of all athletes, they cannot keep the most determined players down. No one proves this better than senior Alison Hashmall of the women's tennis team.

Hashmall, known simply as "Hash" by her teammates, has been plagued with knee injuries throughout her career at Princeton but has managed to serve as an invaluable player for the team.

Hashmall's distinguished career began at the age of nine as she began touring in junior league tennis. The pinnacle of her juniors career came when she defeated the top-ranked player in the league and won the "Gold Ball" — the highest honor bestowed upon a junior doubles player.

After coming to Princeton as a highly sought-after recruit, Hashmall has been a valued member of the Tigers' singles lineup since her freshman year. Her most definitive victory at Princeton came against Penn last year when she clinched the match for Princeton and brought the Tigers into the college rankings for the first time in three years.

"The greatest moments for me are those when the team plays its best, and Penn was one of those moments," Hashmall said. "To clinch an upset in that manner, everyone has to be at the top of their game, which makes them all the more special."

During her sophomore year, Hashmall was voted by Ivy League coaches to second team All-Ivy.

The determination that has kept Hashmall playing tennis has defined her career as a Tiger.

"Alison's 'will to win' is her best asset on-court," head coach Kathy Sell said. "She is a deceptive player in that just when you think the point is over, she will run down two to three more balls and come up with a win."

Her teammates share the same sentiment as her coach regarding Hashmall's playing style.

"On the court, she will never give up and knows how to win at any cost," said Williams.

Despite her role as one of three Captains this year, Hashmall did not accompany the team during its tour of North Carolina which took it to NC State, UNC Greensboro, Duke and UNC Wilmington during spring break. The trip climaxed with the team's victory over UNC Wilmington, whose coach Jenny Garrity is Sell's eldest sister. Instead, Sell decided to keep Hashmall off the court and in a routine of daily training to ensure she is in the best shape for Ivy League play which begins in April.

In addition to her time-consuming commitment to the tennis team, Hashmall can be heard spinning classical rock and alternative jams as a late-night DJ for WPRB, which she reluctantly gave up to work on her "quintessentially Princeton" senior thesis.

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Hashmall's radio show was a means for her to preserve her interest in music, despite her commitments as a varsity athlete.

"Sometimes it feels I gave up everything for my love of tennis," Hashmall, who also took piano lessons for 14 years, said. "I didn't give up my love for music and my show was a way for me to express it."

In addition to her career as a tennis player and music enthusiast, Hashmall, who has a successful academic career as a Wilson School major, has already been rewarded for her hard work with acceptances to study law at Penn, NYU and Columbia thus far.

Hashmall is considering deferring law school for a year to pursue her passion for tennis professionally.

"After a while, tennis manages to become a part of you and it's hard to give it up. I probably won't even make it on TV, but I still want to try it," she said.