Chippewa’s Abby Sines breaks girls tennis wins record with 62nd career victory

Consistent, inspirational, gritty, tough and hard working are just a few of the words that one could use to describe Chippewa senior Abby Sines. Throughout her four-year career, the Lady Chipps' first singles tennis player has embodied all those words and more.

If you ask her tennis coach, Nick Pandrea, he would call her a court rat.

“She is always here at the court and is always playing,” Pandrea said. “That’s why I call her that.”

On a serious note.

“Inspirational and a leader is what she has been ever since she stepped onto the tennis court as a freshman,” he said. “She just continues to fall more in love with the game and gets better each and every day.”

On Tuesday, Sept. 2, she continued that ascension with yet another milestone. This time she tied 2022 graduates Ally Murphy and Katie Harlan for the most wins in program history at 61. Then on Thursday, Sept. 4, she put herself atop the Chippewa record boards by notching her 62nd career win against Canton McKinley. That improved her record this year to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the Northeast Tennis Conference, and she is now 62-20 for her career.

“She absolutely never quits," Pandrea said. "She’s been an inspiration to her teammates over the years. Even as a freshman, she was a leader on this team. She was unafraid to take that No. 1 spot, and she just never let anyone take it back."

In her match to tie Murphy and Harlan, Sines had to dig deep to rally past Orrville’s Alaina Yeagley. A double fault put her behind 40-30 for the clinching point as Yeagley wasn’t giving an inch to Sines. The two locked up in an intense volley that saw Sines force Yeagley to the baseline with back-to-back long ground strokes before racing to the net and tapping one just inside the service line to even matters at 40-all. Then holding serve at add-in, Sines took Yeagley to the far corner with a pair of shots near the singles sideline that were returned before a deft shot cross court to the near side ended it.

“That was a hard match on a hot day,” Sines said. “I was finally able to start hitting my shots instead of right down the middle at (Yeagley). I was able to hit cross court, come to the net, finish points and hit with consistency, really just not going for too much but also not too little.”

As for tying Harlan and Murphy, with the latter being someone she hits with, it meant a lot.

“Ally is an amazing person and is a really good player,” Sines said. “I still see her, and over the summer, we hit together. It really means that much more to know her and just how good she is.”

The senior said tying and breaking the record means much more to her than just a record.

“That is a lot of hard work that is finally paying off,” she said. “I switched to a sport that I didn’t really have any friends in to today, having a giant community of friends just through tennis. It means a lot to be able to achieve this goal with them.”

For her coach, it was only fitting Sines was tested and earned the key win for herself.

“It might not have been the match she wanted, but it was the match she needed,” he said. “It’s so fitting how she earned this win.

“She isn’t the tallest, the fastest or the flashiest. She is scrappy, an absolute grinder, never quits or settles and just never stops working to get better. I saw that fire in her eyes as a freshman. I could tell then, and I know now just how tough of a competitor she is.”

There is plenty more for Sines to achieve this year, but forgive her if she doesn’t enjoy this one for just a minute. Surrounded by her family, friends, teammates and coaches, she had about everything she could have wanted including the program's records.

“I hope it’s a testament to how we are making a fun program and being well invested in these girls,” Pandrea said. “The ones that really want to try and learn, there is a good environment here for them to do it. We’ve got a great, positive spirit and attitude, and they just keep developing.”