Auburn graduate student Ali DeSpain had spent nearly her entire life in South Carolina, including her time as an undergraduate student at Clemson University. It wasn't until after graduation that DeSpain felt the call to The Plains.
"What attracted me to Auburn was the idea of a new challenge and a new beginning," said the Auburn graduate student. "It was an opportunity for me to grow not only on the court, but off the court as well. I graduated from Clemson with an undergrad in sports communications and I had two years left of eligibility.
"I'm a South Carolina girl born and raised, and I felt like it was time for me to move on and grow so I was ready for a new challenge. It was something that I thought about and prayed about for a long time, and it's been the perfect fit here at Auburn. I'm so glad that I took a leap of faith and came to Auburn, Alabama."
It certainly was a leap of faith for DeSpain. Not only had she never lived outside the Palmetto State, she also did not know any students, any members of the Auburn team or even taken an official campus visit until after she committed to join the Tigers. The only two times she had been to the city prior to her commitment was for junior tennis tournaments.
DeSpain enrolled in classes at Auburn in January, just weeks prior to the team's first dual match of the 2023 season.
The Hilton Head, South Carolina native says that her favorite Auburn memory was one that didn't occur during the spring season. It came in August prior to the 2023-24 season.
"My favorite memory with Auburn tennis would have to be winning the ITA Summer Nationals with Adeline [Flach]," said DeSpain. "We won the doubles at that tournament in Tallahassee at Florida State. It was funny because we just both realized we were playing the same tournament, and we were like 'let's just play doubles'. I went in with no expectations. Adeline and I had never played together and, sure enough, we ended up winning the thing."
DeSpain and Flach won four matches to claim the championship in Tallahassee, including an 8-0 win over Ellison Reynoldson and Ariel Johnson of Wisconsin in the finals. The win also gave the Auburn duo a wildcard into the doubles main draw of the ITA All-American Championships that were held in September.
In her collegiate career, the second-year graduate student has accumulated over 100 combined victories and was an NCAA Doubles Championships selection in 2022. She also reached a career-high doubles ranking of 17th and singles ranking of 84th during the 2021-22 season. In 2019, DeSpain was the No. 22 tennis recruit in the nation and was a two-time state champion at Waccamaw High School.
DeSpain claims that the dream of being a tennis player at the Division I level was not achieved on her own. It was her family's support as well as her sister's advice and encouragement.
"My family has been incredibly supportive of me and my tennis journey," said the former blue-chip recruit. "I've made a lot of sacrifices, but my family has also supported me and making my dreams come true of playing Division I tennis.
"My sister is someone that I look up to a lot. She's a year-and-a-half older than me and I consider her more like my best friend than my sister. She just gives me the best advice, she comforts me, we always just send each other funny DMs on Instagram and things like that. But I would say my sister has definitely been a big supporter of me and my tennis career just always pushing me to reach for the stars and reach for that next highest level and do the next thing."
Another family member that had a major influence on DeSpain was her late grandmother who passed away during her collegiate career at the age of 98. She credits her grandmother for giving her wisdom and being a spiritual advisor during her life.
"My grandmother had a really big influence on me. She was someone who, like my sister, I looked up to and she gave me incredible advice. She was an incredible woman of faith and really helped me grow in my relationship with God. She was always providing such wisdom and I live by her words to this day. I have her voicemails on my phone that I still listen to.
"When I was in high school, she said that she wanted to live to see me graduate high school and play a college tennis match for Clemson. And both of those things happened. She was at my graduation and then when we played the University of South Carolina in Columbia, my grandmother came to the match and saw me play singles for Clemson. I'll never forget that match and it was so special."
A student-athlete for five seasons, DeSpain knows that her sacrifices have prepared her for life after tennis and she is grateful for the things that Auburn has provided for her during her time on the courts.
"Being a student athlete is no easy feat. It's like having two jobs in one. You're a student and school comes first, but you also have the challenge of a lot of your time going to tennis, practice and travel. You're missing school, yet you still have to find a way to get it all done. In the past five years I've been playing college tennis, I've become good at multitasking and being able to handle anything that's thrown at me.
"I'm going to miss having all the resources that are available here at Auburn, whether it be on the nutrition side or the academics side. Our trainers and coaches are incredible. I'm really going to miss all the people and all the things that Auburn gives my teammates and me."
Although competitive tennis may be coming to an end after the 2023-24 season, that will not keep DeSpain from being active.
"I really enjoy being outside and working out, so a big hobby of mine is running. If I could run every day I definitely would but it's not the best on your body, especially with all that we do on court and in the gym. When my tennis career is over, I see myself getting into running marathons. When my sister and I were 10 years old, we made a pact that we would run the New York Marathon together. So that's definitely in the works within the next couple of years, and I'm excited for that."