View full sizeFreedom High School's Marielle McIntyre is the 2011 Express-Times Girls Tennis Player of the Year.Freedom High School's
finished her junior year with a Lehigh Valley Conference title, a third-place finish in the Districts 11 Class AAA tournament and was named to The Express-Times All-Area first team.
But none of that was good enough for McIntyre, who shortly after winning her third-place match at districts, had already made a promise to herself that her senior season would be different.
With back-to-back district semifinal losses from the previous two years in the back of her mind, McIntyre worked hard to make her senior season the most memorable. Each match she dominated her opponents in impressive fashion, beating each one in straight sets.
That mental toughness and accompanying results resulted in McIntyre being named The Express-Times 2011 Girls Tennis Player of the Year.
McIntyre put on a great performance all season with her closest match coming in the district semifinals, where she lost her first set of the year. She managed to rally in the third set to win the match and move on to her first district final, where she
in straight sets.
ALL-AREA GIRLS TENNIS:
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As the No. 1 singles player for the Patriots, McIntyre finished with an overall record of 20-1 and helped Freedom finish second in the Lehigh Valley Conference at 10-1.
After districts she set her sights on a state title but lost in the first round.
McIntyre battled the entire season to become a champion and now wants to take her talents to the next level and compete in college.