Mikaela Hindenlang '16 Recruiting Profile

I am interested in studying pre-med in my undergraduate studies. After completing my bachelors degree in pre-med, I aspire to study Veterinarian Medicine and receive my Doctorate Degree so that I may practice Veterinary Medicine. I believe I am a good candidate for your team because I am a team player, I support my teammates on and off the court, I am a hard worker and I am very serious about my academic goals.  I would love the chance to play the best tennis of my life for a great school.

I am different from other players because I can keep my temper when getting frustrated and upset with my game. I am very honest and respectful and I am a very devoted team player. I am in two AP courses in my Junior year as well as other vigorous, time consuming classes.

The only reason I really think I got into tennis was because of my dad. He had played in high school and was apparently really good. He didn't play tournaments or take lessons. His parents didn't have the money to spend on those things, they couldn't even afford to buy him a racquet; he had to use his neighbors. I guess my dad thought it would be cool for his daughters to play tennis because he loved the sport so much. So when we were old enough, he took us out on the courts and started to teach us. I first picked up a racquet when I was very young, maybe four or five, but I never took the sport seriously.

When I was in 7th grade I asked my dad if I could start taking tennis lessons again. We visited a tennis center and my sister and I were invited to hit in on one of their clinics.  We loved it!  We begged our dad to enroll us in the tennis clinics, but he was skeptical about our commitment.    That night at dinner my sister and I wrote up a contract and presented it to my dad.  The contract stated that we would never whine or complain about going to tennis lessons or to the clinics.  My sister and I both signed it and to this very day we have never broken our contract to our dad.  Once we were enrolled in the clinics I started to play seriously and during my 8th grade year I made it my personal goal  to make the varsity team as a freshmen. Since I got a really late start in the sport I had a lot of ground to make up!  I achieved my goal of making the varsity team as a freshmen and I am very proud of the tremendous progress I have achieved in a short amount of time.  I am now playing 5-6 days a week for 2 hours a day and during the summer months I am playing 5-6 days a week 3 hours or more a day.  I am working very hard, because my goal is to continue playing tennis in college.

I have 95% accuracy on my serves and quick hands at the net. I would really like to be ranked in the top 300 hundred nationally by the time I am eighteen. I am very coachable and strive to be one of the hardest working players on the team and one of the hardest working recruits you'll ever see.

On top of my academic studies and tennis I also have a part-time job, which pays for my cell phone, car insurance and gas. Most people my age do not have to pay for their own things, so by me doing so, I know how to appreciate something that I have worked hard to receive. 

During the 2014-15 season I was voted 1st team in our conference (Greater Western Ohio Conference) and 2nd team All Area. I won the CJ Invitational Tournament in Doubles, runner-up in Singles in the Dayton Coaches Cup and  I was undefeated in conference matches.  During Sectionals my doubles team was seeded 3rd. During our sectional tournament we won 3 out of 4 matches (lost in the championship) and proved the coaches poll wrong.  My doubles team was seeded 2nd at Districts. In Districts we won our first match but lost our State qualifying match.  Even though we did not make it out of districts, we did however make school history by going undefeated in conference play, winning the conference tournament and advancing a singles player (a top player in Ohio Valley) and a doubles team to the State qualifying matches.