Courageous Carpenter Serving Winners Again

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

May 21, 2019

PORTAGE — With her bubbly personality and bright smile, Abby Carpenter looks like any other tennis player trying to win points for her team.

But the Portage Central sophomore's path to return to play for one of the state's top teams has been anything but typical.

Carpenter has suffered eight concussions and fought her way onto the team through physical therapy, medication and sheer determination.

“The first (concussion) was a mild one in fifth grade,” she said. “It was playing badminton in gym class.

“The serious ones were in volleyball my freshman year. I got two in volleyball and one in tennis.”

The one in tennis sidelined her all last season, so she is doubly excited now that the Mustangs have qualified for the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals at Holland.

“I was at the net and someone was serving and served it into the back of my head in warm ups, actually, so I didn’t get to play a single match last year,” she said.

Her love of sports has kept her fighting to play, and her perseverance has kept her on the court, although it has not been easy.

“I don’t normally have a stutter but I actually have something called concussion conversion syndrome, meaning no matter how often my head’s hit, my brain tries to shut itself down and it goes into shock and tries to protect itself, causing concussion-like symptoms,” she said.

“They used to last for months but then I’ve gone to therapy to basically teach myself how to get out of them and prevent the full shutdown. I can prevent some of them, and I have my medicine to prevent some of the side effects.”

She also has vision issues.

In spite of all that, she played her way to the No. 4 singles spot for coach Peter Militzer’s Mustangs.

“I’ve always been over-competitive and I don’t like the thought of letting other people down because of my individual struggle,” she said. “I’m hardest on myself more than anyone, so I don’t want to let myself down.

“Tennis is the only sport I’m cleared to play by my neurologist.”

Carpenter gets treated at The CORE Institute in Brighton and “I’m under intense concussion treatment and take daily medication and physical therapies,” she said.

“At one point, I had to relearn to talk and walk because I got such a bad concussion. It’s been a long road.”

Portage Central qualified for the MHSAA tournament May 31-June 1 by finishing second to Mattawan at last weekend’s Regional.

Militzer was not sure how the team would fare since he has just one senior, Riley Burns, who teams with junior Lea Stephen at No. 3 doubles.

‘We are really strong at No. 1 singles (junior Casey Smith) and No. 1 doubles (juniors Ashnu Mehra and Kimberly Kovacik, who won the Regional title) but I think we have good depth at both singles and doubles,” Militzer said.

“Any time you have one senior, you don’t think you’re going to do really well. But we have a good nucleus of juniors and some really good freshmen and a couple new players.”

One of those surprising freshmen is Sydney Sonday.

“She’s a swimmer but her mom and dad are avid tennis players,” Militzer said. “She picked it up quick and is doing quite well.”

“Going into the season, we’re looking at our lineup and we knew (freshman) Diya (Singh at No. 2 singles) and (freshman) Carly (Smith, No. 2 doubles with junior Alyson Miller) coming in would be good and would contribute at a high spot, but we weren’t sure where we were going to be in singles.

“Sydney settled in at 3 singles, and Abby has done well at 4 singles.”

Casey Smith has played at the top spot all three years.

“It was kind of nerve-wracking at first, especially freshman year, because I had never really done a team sport since elementary school. So to be put into that atmosphere was definitely a learning moment for me,” said Smith, who also competes in USTA tournaments.

“It taught me a lot about myself. I feel like I learned to deal with pressure in nervous matches. We all know that in every single one of our positions, we’re all worth the same. We just have to do our jobs.”

Portage Central improved from 11th at the LPD2 Finals in 2017 to eighth a year ago, and moved up to No. 8 in this week’s coaches association rankings with another Finals opportunity coming up.

“It’s so exciting for all of us because it means we get to keep hitting and get to keep practicing with each other for another couple of weeks,” Smith said.

“We never want it to end at Regionals when we know we can go farther. Just to play a lot more competition and to play teams we don’t normally play is really exciting.”

After finishing runner-up to Mattawan’s Kate Novak at Regionals, Smith hopes to be seeded at states for the first time.

“I’m tired of playing seeds in the second round,” she said. “I’ve had to play first round, and I’ve lost my second round both years.

“Both have been good matches, but I really want to start second round this year. That’s a goal.”

Militzer said Smith is a hard worker and great defensive player.

“She can run down things, and players who go out on the court against her will have to hit two or three winners before the point ends,” he said. “That can wear on a person during a match.

“She’s always had a few weapons, and her weapons are getting stronger and more consistent as she’s matures.”

With her sister Carly playing doubles, Casey Smith said she tries to keep an eye on her sister’s match when they are both on the court.

“I feel like I’m only watching when it’s not a distraction,” Casey Smith said. “I feel like I’m pretty good at pulling myself back into my match. But I do watch over there on changeovers.”

Although she is the younger sister, Carly Smith is definitely not the “little” sister.

At 5-foot-9, she also plays volleyball and is very happy playing doubles during the spring. She and Miller were No. 2 doubles champs at Regionals.

“I like when you have someone to pump you up and cheer you up when you’re down,” she said. “Singles is not my thing.”

Sophomores Molly Rohs and Jana Schnur round out the roster at No. 4 doubles.

Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Portage Central sophomore Abby Carpenter receives encouragement from coach Peter Militzer during Saturday’s Regional. (Middle) Clockwise, from top left: Carpenter, Militzer, Carly Smith and Casey Smith. (Below) Casey Smith returns a volley during one of her Regional matches at No. 1 singles. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)

Title IX at 50: Over 8 Days in 1988, Pair of Champs Set No. 1 Singles Standard

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 17, 2022

Over the course of eight days during October 1988, a pair of No. 1 singles standouts made MHSAA history that rarely has been equaled over the next three-plus decades of excellent high school tennis played in Michigan.

On Oct. 14, on her home court, Iron Mountain senior Kit Duford became the first in MHSAA girls tennis history to win a fourth Finals championship at No. 1 singles. She defeated Negaunee’s Kelly Johnson 6-0, 6-1 to help the Mountaineers to the Upper Peninsula Class C-D team championship – Iron Mountain’s third in four seasons and first in a new string of three straight the Mountaineers would win.

On Oct. 22 at Battle Creek Springfield, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett senior Dawn Martin capped her high school career with a fourth No. 1 singles Finals championship. She defeated Detroit Country Day’s Missy Castleman 6-0, 6-0 to claim the flight at the Lower Peninsula Class C-D Tournament as her team edged Country Day by four points in the final standings. The team title was Liggett’s ninth during a string of 10 consecutive championship wins.

Only two others in MHSAA Finals history have achieved four No. 1 singles championships – Country Day’s Kendra Howard from 1990-93, and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood’s Shannon Matthews from Fall 2004-Spring 2008. (Girls tennis in the Lower Peninsula moved from fall to spring during the 2006-07 school year.)

Martin went on to make Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” feature, and then played tennis at University of Tennessee. Duford went on to play both tennis and softball at Lake Superior State University.

Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.

Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights

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May 3: 
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April 5: 
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March 29: 
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March 15: 
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March 8: 
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Feb. 22: Marquette Ties Record for Swim & Dive Finals Success - Read
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Feb. 1: WISL Award Honors Builders of State's Girls Sports Tradition - Read
Jan. 25: Decades Later, Edwards' Legend Continues to Grow - Read
Jan. 18: Iron Mountain Completes Championship Climb - Read
Jan. 11: Harrold's Achievement Heralds Growth of Girls Wrestling - Read
Dec. 20: Competitive Cheer Gives Michigan Plenty to Cheer About - Read
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Nov. 30: 
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Nov. 16: Wroubel Has Championed Girls School Sports from Their Start - Read
Nov. 9: Pioneer's Joyce Legendary in Michigan, National Swim History - Read
Nov. 2: Royal Oak's Finch Leading Way on Football Field - Read
Oct. 26: Coach Clegg Sets Championship Standard at Grand Blanc - Read
Oct. 19: Rockford Girls Set Pace, Hundreds After Have Continued to Chase - Read
Oct. 12: 
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Oct. 5: 
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Sept. 28: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions - Read
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Sept. 14: 
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Sept. 7: 
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Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read

PHOTO Lindsay Tarpley speaks during the 2020 MHSAA Women in Sports Leadership Conference. (MHSAA Archive)