Despite her young age, Manitowoc Lincoln High School junior Olivia Minikel has already experienced success on a big stage, winning multiple singles matches at the WIAA State Tennis Tournament her freshman and sophomore years.
Olivia, the daughter of Greg and Laurie Minikel, is undefeated so far this season as she takes a 19-0 record into the Ships FRCC home meet with De Pere this afternoon (September 22nd).
She is not only a humble young athlete but a hard-working one as well.
Minikel told us she had “a lot of practice over the summer and in the winter and I feel like I’m a better player because of it now. And, our team has been doing really well this year. We have a lot of younger players but they’re all really athletic and we’re doing well in conference so far.”
Lincoln tennis coach Stephanie Henschel said she is very coachable, too.
“The players that are really good sometimes come off like they know everything,” she explained. “And Olivia knows a lot, but every once in a while I’ll go out there and give her some pointers. And she’s always receptive to everything. She’s a great kid to coach.”
Minikel spoke about improvement in her game since she began high school.
“I would say my forehand has improved a lot,” she said. “We’ve been working on it a lot the last two years and feel like it’s become one of my weapons for now.”
Olivia also competes in basketball and track & field, which Coach Henschel said benefits her.
“I think with a lot of kids who focus on just one sport we’ve had a couple of kids get hurt. It helps to work all different kinds of muscle groups,” the coach revealed. “And it helps her mental toughness as well. She has some sports with her team but she also has to be out there by herself, so it’s super important to have the multi-sport aspect into her game.”
Minikel’s goals for this fall are clear-cut.
She said, “The main goal would be the podium, but a big goal would be state champion, which I think would be pretty cool to achieve.”
The post-season tournament is still over a week away, but Olivia and her Ships teammates have some tough opponents to deal with before then, including the Redbirds today, an invitational in Oshkosh this weekend, and then Bay Port at Lincoln Park next Tuesday.
