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SPORTS
Midland's Law gets her wish: D-I tennis
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Purchase this photoONA -- It's not a rule for players to be so dedicated to a sport that they sacrifice many high school activities to excel.
Instead, it's the Law.
As in Bethany Law.
Cabell Midland's girls tennis state champion saw all her hard work and sacrifice come to fruition on Tuesday afternoon when she inked her National Letter of Intent to attend Division I Longwood University, located in the center of Virginia.
"This is what I've worked for my whole life," Law said. "I've wanted to play D-I tennis since I was 5 years old."
It was especially fitting to see Law share the day with all of her friends in the media center at Cabell Midland High School, considering that to get to where she is today -- a Division I tennis player -- she had to put friends and other common teenage occurrences on the backburner.
While other kids were packing into Knights Stadium for football games, they would pass Law as she and her mother Cheryl got in some after-school practice.
And while other girls were busy planning sleepovers and movie nights, Law and her family were on the road for their next tournament.
"I want to thank them because without them, I'd have never reached this point," Law said. "I missed a lot of things with my friends -- sleepovers, birthday parties, family stuff -- but it's been worth it to accomplish what I've worked for and they know that I'm still there for them as well."
It is a challenging road for any player to forgo the teenage life to concentrate on a sport, but challenges are nothing new for Law, who has risen above the adversity on several occasions.
After finishing as the Class AAA state runner-up at No. 1 singles as a freshman, Law suffered a preseason abdominal injury in her sophomore year that was expected to hinder a championship run.
Instead, Law produced one of the feel-good stories of 2008 in area sports, emerging victorious over Jefferson's Christina Hammond to earn the Class AAA state championship at No. 2 singles.
She followed that up with a pair of titles in 2009. She defeated Huntington's Stephanie Hess in straight sets for her second-straight state title at No. 2 singles while also joining teammate Stephanie Fox for the Class AAA championship at No. 1 doubles.
Tuesday's signing not only guarantees that she will live out her life-long dream of playing Division I tennis, it also gives some clarity for her goals heading into the 2009 tennis season.
Instead of thinking about where she will go to school, Law is focused on not only winning her third singles title, but also trying to get Cabell Midland a team title.
"To have it done before the high school season and not have to worry about all that stress takes a lot off of me for now," Law said. "My freshman year, I was the only representative at state and we finished fourth (as a team). With Stephanie (Fox) and I, my sophomore year we got third and last year we got second. Hopefully, we'll get one better this year and win the team title to finish it off."
