Name: Mia Yin
Grade: Senior
Sports involvement: This tennis season, Yin placed second at the MSHSAA Class 3 Girls Tennis Singles State Championship, Oct. 24. Yin hadn’t dropped a set until the championship match, which she lost 0-2 against Adelyn Gross of St. Joe’s Academy. Along with earning a silver medal, Yin was a leader for Lafayette, helping them reach the state quarterfinals before losing to John Burroughs 5-1. The last name Yin is not unfamiliar at Lafayette, as her sister, Amber Yin, Class of 2024, was a state champion and now plays collegiate tennis for Columbia University.
Coach’s opinion: “Mia was a great leader as a senior. Girls look up to her for multiple reasons, for one, she is an amazing player and she is also comedic relief for the team. She knows how to bring a smile, be a little goofy and get people in a good mindset,” Coach Emily Pestka said. “She was focused and competitive but she had fun this season. I think she had a great balance of putting it all out there but still enjoying it.”
What is your greatest accomplishment this season?
“I think I handled being a senior, a team captain and just a leadership role very well. I think I’ve matured a lot over this past season. It wasn’t necessarily about winning or losing; It was just more about how I handled stuff and how I overcame any hard losses,” Mia said.
What have you done to step forward as a leader on the team?
“Because we have a lot of younger people [on the team], I’m getting everybody comfortable with each other, getting everybody to talk and work well together. I would say leading the practices definitely helped our team, and as a leader, I was finding how to fit into that role well, but I had a lot of help,” Mia said.
What was your favorite part about the state tournament?
“My favorite part was just seeing everybody together in one place at the end of season. I have friends from different schools and being able to see how far everybody has come was really cool,” Yin said.
How has experiencing your sister’s success helped your tennis career?
“Seeing her win was super fun just seeing everybody congratulate her and seeing all the merit she was able to receive. I also wanted that for myself, so she set the standard and I was always there trying to reach that goal,” Mia said.
As a senior, what does this season mean to you versus past seasons?
“This season is probably the most meaningful just because it was my last run so I was trying to go big or go home. It being the last season really made me realize this is the last time I’ll be spending on the court with these amazing people and coaches,” Mia said.
What is your favorite tennis memory?
“My favorite memory would probably be eating out after a big win. I felt like that was always really nice because I am in a good mood, everybody else is in a good mood, and it’s just really rewarding,” Mia said.
Future plans: Mia Yin is committed to play tennis in college, and plans to study biology so she can work in the field of dentistry in the future.
