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Saturday, October 24, 2009
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S-M's Edin eyes repeat performance Area athlete of the week Sports Writer It's been a pressure-packed season for Abby Edin.
And, by all accounts, she's handled the pressure with championship form.
The senior for the Staples-Motley Cardinals girls' tennis team repeated as Section 6-1A individual singles champion and helped the S-M team back to the state tournament for the eighth time in 10 years this fall.
Edin's pressure came from finishing second in last year's Class 1A singles tournament where she fell to Rochester Lourdes'' Alexa Palen. With Palen graduated, Edin was the top returning player in the state.
"I felt a lot of pressure," said Edin. "It was a lot to live up to. I felt like I really needed to win every match I played. Then I just decided I needed to concentrate on just getting better all the time.
"I just tried to keep a positive attitude and focus on getting better and working on the goals I set for myself."
The strategy worked during section team and individual tournaments.
Edin defeated Laura Hintzen 6-3, 6-1 in the Cardinals' 6-1 section team championship win over Sauk Centre Oct. 13.
She topped Long Prairie-Grey Eagles' Kimmy Mrozek in the section semifinals 6-1, 6-1 Oct. 12. Those two met for the Section 6-1A individual singles title, with Edin claiming a 6-4, 6-1 win. It was the third time in two weeks Edin beat Mrozek.
Edin blew through the early rounds, recording a 6-0, 6-0 win in the opening-round victory over West Central's Sarah Wagner in the quarterfinals and a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Tonya Hetland of Osakis in the semifinals.
"Going into the section tournament I felt pretty confident," said Edin. "I had played a lot of those girls before. I just wanted to work on getting ready for state.
"I was happy with how I played, especially that second day when I played the second and third matches. I was really on my game."
The six-year varsity player finished 2-1 at last year's state team tournament, helping the Cardinals to fourth place.
Abby Edin
Year: Senior
School: Staples-Motley
Sport: Tennis
Position: No. 1 singles
Key stat: Won the Section 6-1A singles title
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As a sophomore she finished 1-1 in the state singles tournament and was 2-1 to help S-M to third in the team tournament. Edin went to state as a freshman as well, finishing 1-2 in the singles tournament and going 2-1 in the team tournament as the Cardinals claimed the consolation championship. All three of Edin's losses in the team tournament were to Taylor Washington of Mounds Park Academy.
"She's moving better and getting in place to hit her Abby ball," said Cardinals head coach Kevin Coughlin. "She's got a great forehand. She's smart enough where she knows what's in front of her. I don't think she's putting too much undue pressure on herself."
Earlier in the year, Edin won the Mid-State Conference No. 1 singles title, helping the Cardinals claim the conference crown.
Class 1A's third-ranked singles player said she's been doing research on her state opponents. She's feeling the pressure of what she did last year, but said practicing against teammates has helped her confidence.
"It's really fun being on this team because there is a certain amount of pressure," said Edin. "We all feed off of each other. We all want to win really bad and do our best every time."
Other notable performances:
Cross country: Manon Gammon-Deering, Little Falls, won the St. Cloud Tech Invite in 15:16.
Swimming: Whitney Weisz, Little Falls, won the 50- and 100-yard freestyles and helped two relays to first against St. Cloud Apollo.
Tennis: Allie Carlson-Kaitlyn Davies, Aitkin, won the North Subsection 8-1A doubles championship.
Megan Lenz-Angela Villella, Pequot Lakes, won the South Subsection 7-1A doubles championship.
Volleyball: Kelsey Meyer, Pierz, finished with 37 set assists, 13 digs, one ace serve, one kill and one block against Holdingford.
Alayna Kabanuk, Little Falls, finished with 18 kills, 1 ace sere, five digs and one block against Brainerd.
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.
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