When it comes to the sport of water polo, Oakville Senior High’s Ashley Dry has earned the reputation of being someone who never backs down from a challenge.

That attitude has given Dry the opportunity to play beyond the high school ranks as the Oakville senior recently committed to play at Lindenwood University this fall.

“She’s definitely by far one of our toughest girls,” Oakville head coach Corey Miller told the Call. “She’s one of those girls that would never back down. The girls are giving up a lot in size but Ashley matched up with a lot of guys very well.”

Dry is the first to admit most female water polo players give up some strength and size to their male counterparts, but speed is Dry’s calling card.

“It’s always different playing with the guys,” Dry told the Call. “They have a lot more upper body strength than girls do, but I think that girls are sometimes a little more quick to the ball than (boys) are.”

The Tiger drive/utility player got her first taste of chlorinated water as a child through swimming lessons and actually began competing at eight years old. It wasn’t until her freshman year at Oakville that she considered making the move to water polo.

“I had always swam and I just got sick and tired of competitive swimming,” Dry said. “During my freshman year one of my friends heard about water polo tryouts and I loved it.”

Dry spent her freshman season with the junior varsity squad before moving up to the varsity team for her sophomore season, where she recorded three goals and four assists. Ashley upped her goal total as a junior with four goals and two assists and surpassed that effort as a senior with four goals and three assists.

But versatility is Dry’s biggest asset.

“She could fill in about any position we needed her in,” Miller said. “She was pretty solid and pretty good defensively.”

Water Polo is not the only activity that Ashley is involved in at Oakville Senior High. She’s a member of DECA, which is an association for students of marketing and management, and served on the Oakville student council as a freshman and a sophomore.

Dry plans to major in business at Lindenwood with a possible minor in psychology. Upon graduation from Lindenwood, she hopes to become a purchasing or visual merchandising agent.

“While we were doing a school project, I went and shadowed a a visual merchandising agent and I just loved it,” Dry said.

As far as collegiate water polo goes, Dry’s head coach believes she has the tools to succeed and eventually become a team leader.

“I think she can be a strong player if she sticks to it,” Miller said. “She can be a team leader because she has that kind of attitude. People seem to follow her.”