By Dean Eversole
MaxPreps.com
Maria Stein, Ohio and Tallahassee, Fla., are like day and night, but they are linked by one person - Marion Local High School senior-to-be Abby Niekamp.
The 6-foot-1 middle hitter will play for the Florida State Seminoles in 2008 thanks to a camp held in another city, Sidney. Niekamp attended a camp hosted by her club coach Greg Snipes.
Snipes is a successful varsity coach with Sidney Lehman Catholic, and, more important for Niekamp, a close friend of FSU coach Todd Kress. This series of events arranged the long distance relationship that has resulted in a country kid from Ohio playing for the Seminoles.
"My club coach Greg Snipes hosted a camp at Lehman." said Niekamp. "He and coach Kress are friends and Kress was at the camp. He saw me play and asked if I wanted to visit Florida State, which I did."
As a junior, Niekamp headed to the Sunshine State and the Florida State campus, she was sold in an instant. But, doing the prudent thing, she spent some time making sure before committing to Kress. After all, she was a hot commodity on the recruiting circuit.
"After I had gone to Florida State, I wanted to ensure I wasn't making my decision simply based on my last visit. So I went to the other schools to compare and Florida State was still my choice," noted Niekamp about the recruiting process.
Some of the schools Niekamp turned down were Ohio State, Miami (OH) and the University of Dayton. All three would have been close to home for Niekamp, but she has completely dismissed the concerns of going so far from home.
"At first I was a little nervous about going so far away," noted Niekamp about leaving Ohio. "But when I was down there I started realizing it wasn't that far from home."
Last season as a junior, Niekamp led the team in kills and assists. However, Marion lost in only the second game at the state tournament. Coming into the D-IV, it was ranked number one, but Midwest Athletic Conference foe St. Henry bumped Marion from the tournament. It marked the second consecutive disappointing end to a season.
Niekamp's sophomore season, the Flyers were one game away from the Final Four, only to see it slip away against Lehman. Ironically it was the same Lehman team coached by Snipes, who turned out to be Niekamp's connection to FSU.
But now as senior, and with an outstanding core of players returning, Marion Local, and Niekamp, has its sights set on one thing - a state title.
"Winning the state title is always on our minds," commented Niekamp. "But after last season's slip in tournament we want to get further than last year."
Accomplishing this won't be easy. Facing a brutal schedule and perhaps an even more difficult sectional, Marion's road to the Final Four is loaded with pitfalls. However, in typical fashion Niekamp sees this as a positive.
"There is a lot of quality competition in the MAC and it really helps us to get better during the regular season," she noted.
Niekamp's senior year will be an abbreviated one. After completing the season in October, Niekamp will graduate in December and head south.
"I will be graduating in December (from Marion Local) and leaving for early enrollment at Florida State," noted Niekamp "as far as I know I am the only one on the team doing this (entering school early)."
Niekamp's portfolio is full of accomplishments except one - a state title. She hopes to change that before exchanging cornfields for sunshine.