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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.)
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Preview: Serving Up Plenty of Winners
May 28, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Reigning champions will abound at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals.
But a few have opportunities to cement themselves in the MHSAA record book as well.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood can become just the third program to win at least five straight MHSAA LP girls tennis championships – and first since Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett finished a nine-season run in 2002.
Meanwhile, Okemos’ Emily Struble can repeat as No. 1 singles champion in Division 2 – and finish her career with four individual titles, becoming just the fifth player to accomplish that feat. Utica’s Davina Nguyen and Kalamazoo Christian’s Audrey Bouma can join a group of 15 who have won three MHSAA flight championships.
Coverage of all four Finals will be published on Second Half later Saturday evening. Below is a brief look at top contenders at each tournament, with play beginning Friday morning. Click for more including brackets and seeds for all 32 flights.
DIVISION 1 at Greater Midland Tennis Center
Top ranked: 1. Northville, 2. Midland Dow, 3. Grosse Pointe South.
Grosse Pointe South won last season’s Final by six points and is seeking its third title in four seasons. Midland Dow is seeking its first title since 2009 and first top-two finish since 2010. But both are expected to chase Northville – which is seeking its first championship and tied for third a year ago.
Northville: A sweep of doubles certainly would carry Northville far in its title quest, and the Mustangs are seeded first at all four of those flights with Anika Mukherji and Reeshma Kumar at No. 1, Paige Baal and Claudia Ma at No. 2, Jordan Hermiz and Amelia Albanelli at No. 3 and Serena Wang and Molly Bis at No. 4. Hermiz was part of last season’s No. 3 champion. All but one flight is seeded, and No. 3 singles Joanne Gao also earned a top spot heading into the weekend.
Midland Dow: All eight flights are seeded as Dow aspires to ascend from last season’s tie for seventh place. No. 2 singles player and freshman Jessica Brown is the top seed at her flight, and Elaina Parrillo is the second seed at No. 3 after finishing runner-up at No. 4 in 2014. Top singles player McKenna Root missed last season with injuries but has returned and signed to play next season at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Grosse Pointe South – The Blue Devils return one singles player and a doubles pair who won championships last season plus two more previous singles champions. Grosse Pointe South has claimed No. 4 singles the last three seasons with Maggie Sweeney (now No. 1 doubles) in 2012, Madie Flournoy (now No. 3) in 2013 and Maddie Paolucci (second seed at No. 2) winning the flight last spring. Kelly Beardslee and Ginny Hayden are the second seed at No. 2 doubles after winning No. 4 last year, and Morgane Flournoy was part of last season’s No. 2 runner-up and will team with Sweeney at No. 1. Raven Neely is the second seed at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals last season.
Utica’s Davina Nguyen: The senior standout can finish with her third championship at No. 1 singles to go with last season’s and her 2012 title. The future Michigan State University player enters as the second seed, however, after losing her Regional Final match to Ava Thielman (see below).
Utica Eisenhower’s Ava Thielman: Eisenhower’s sophomore defeated Nguyen in three sets two weeks ago and also defeated her in an eight-game set earlier this season. Thielman was unseeded last season and made the quarterfinals; her only loss this season is to Struble of Okemos, according to an Oakland Press report.
Clarkston’s Isabella Spindler: The Wolves’ junior moved up to No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up at No. 2 as a freshman and making the semifinals of that flight last season. She enters as the fourth seed this weekend.
Other returning 2014 flight champions: Port Huron Northern’s Fran Basha (No. 1 doubles in 2014, No. 1 singles this season), Port Huron Northern’s Maggie Bacheller (No. 2 doubles in 2014, No. 1 doubles with Margaret Smith this season).
DIVISION 2 at Kalamazoo College
Top ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3. Bloomfield Hills Marian.
One of these three teams has won Division 2 every season dating to 2003. Forest Hills Northern owns eight of those titles and split last year’s with Seaholm – with Marian finishing third after winning most recently in 2013.
Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies’ strength should continue to shine. Reigning champion Madeline Bissett at No. 2 singles and runner-up Sydney Whitfield at No. 4 return as top seeds at those respective flights, and No. 1 runner-up Claire Aleck is back as a third seed at that flight. Forest Hills Northern also won two doubles flights last season and are top-seeded at two again with Felicia Zhang and Maansi Dalmia at No. 2 and Lizzy Vanharn and Denise Bilbao at No. 4.
Birmingham Seaholm: Five individuals who were part of flight championships last season lead the squad; Claire Markley is unseeded at No. 1 singles but won No. 3 in 2014, and Sophie Dixon is the second seed at No. 2 after pairing with Lisa Johnston (now top-seeded at No. 3 singles) to win No. 4 doubles a year ago. Meaghan Flynn and Emily McDermott won No. 3 doubles last season; Flynn is part of the second seed at No. 2 with McDermott part of the third seed at No. 3.
Bloomfield Hills Marian: The Mustangs should make another push with veterans at the top of the lineup. Breann Lungham is unseeded at No. 1 singles but won No. 3 in 2013 and made the quarterfinals at No. 2 a year ago. Sophia Belardo returns as champion at No. 4, and McKenna Landis (No. 1 doubles) and Marta Colisimo (No. 4) were part of runner-up pairs last season at Nos. 2 and 4, respectively. Landis and Bianca Emde are the top seed at No. 1.
Okemos’ Emily Struble: The reigning champion at No. 1 singles is top-seeded and also won No. 2 as both a freshman and sophomore. She beat Aleck in three sets in last season’s championship match.
Mason’s Olivia Hanover: The Bulldogs’ sophomore enters as the second seed at No. 1 singles while playing her first Finals – her team didn’t make the tournament last season, when she played No. 2 singles behind 2012 No. 1 singles champion Abby Perkins.
Portage Central’s Lauren Lomax: She took Struble to 7-5, 6-3, in last season’s quarterfinal as a junior and returns as the fourth seed at No. 1 for the second straight season.
Fenton’s Madison Ballard: She took Aleck to three sets in last season’s semifinal at No. 1 and returns as the fifth seed after entering as the third in 2014.
DIVISION 3 at Holly/Fenton/Grand Blanc
Top ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Grand Rapids Christian.
Cranbrook Kingswood is looking to extend its championship streak to five straight. The Cranes cleared Detroit Country Day by 11 points last season, and Country Day also finished runner-up in 2011 after winning in 2010.
Cranbrook Kingswood: All eight flights are again seeded, but unlike last season – when the team had six top seeds – the Cranes have none. Four flights are seeded second, however, and six players were part of flight championships last season. Reigning No. 4 singles champion Jazz Teste is seeded third at No. 3 this weekend. Meg Phyle (No. 1 doubles) and Amanda Simmons (No. 2) won the No. 1 doubles championship last season; Simmons is now teaming with reigning No. 2 doubles champ Amanda Twu at that flight while 2014 No. 4 doubles runner-up Sloan Wysocki has joined Phyle at No. 1. Mackenzie Beckett is back at No. 3 doubles after being part of that champion last year and will pair with Sauma Du, who was the other half of the No. 4 runner-up.
Detroit Country Day: A strong singles lineup should key the Yellowjackets’ contention; No. 2 Haley Mullins, No. 3 Sadina Fadel and No. 4 Sarah Carroll all are top seeds, while No. 1 Sasha Hartje is a second seed. Mullins and Carroll were runners-up at the same flights in 2014, and Sharmila Prabhu was part of the runner-up pair at No. 3 doubles; she and Tara Tang are the fifth seed at that flight this weekend.
Grand Rapids Christian: The Eagles finished only four points behind Country Day last season and carry eight seeds into this weekend with powerful doubles teams. Three pairs are top-seeded: Olivia DeVos and Caroline Heule at No. 2, Natalie DeBoer and Kate Zwiers at No. 3 and Emily Schellenboom and Rachel Koopman at No. 4. DeVos and Heule were runners-up at No. 2 last season, and Koopman was part of the No. 4 champion.
Williamston’s Sara Daavettila: In last season’s No. 1 singles championship match, she dealt Cranbrook Kingswood’s Alexandria Najarian the latter’s only high school loss. Daavettila, a junior, is undefeated over her two-season high school career.
St. Clair’s Ally Winkler and Ally Kennedy: The top seeds at No. 1 carry plenty of experience, making the quarterfinals last season as the fifth seed. Winkler made the semifinals in 2013 with a different partner, when Kennedy and a different partner made the No. 2 doubles semis.
Other returning 2014 flight champions: Grosse Ile’s Kennedy Quinn (No. 4 singles in Division 4 in 2014, No. 3 singles in Division 3 this season), Grosse Ile’s Rose Tucker (No. 4 doubles in Division 4 in 2014, No. 2 doubles with Luna Terauchi in Division 3 this season).
DIVISION 4 at Holland
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Ludington.
Academy of the Sacred Heart is looking to return to the top after winning LP Division 4 in 2012 and 2013 and finishing sixth a year ago. St. Francis was third and Ludington fifth in 2014. Grosse Ile, last season’s champion, moved into Division 3 for this school year.
Academy of the Sacred Heart: Junior Jeannie Nash adds a top seed at No. 1 singles to four top-seeded doubles pairs: Selina Fuchs and Abby Hildebrand at No. 1, Sara Gerard and Kendall Gassman at No. 2, Tate Lehmann and Kathryn Monahan at No. 3 and Stella Betrus and Sarah Panone at No. 4. Gretchen Lemon was part of last season’s champion at No. 1 doubles, and this weekend she’s seeded fourth at No. 2 singles. Lehmann was the No. 4 singles champ in 2013.
Traverse City St. Francis: Four of the team’s five seeds are in singles, where Natalie Burke is the top seed at No. 3 and Anne Bandrowski the favorite at No. 4. Rosemary Wilson has an MHSAA flight championship to her credit, at No. 3 doubles last season; she and Nicole Ehardt are seeded fifth at No. 2.
Ludington: The Orioles also are seeded at five flights, with Julie Maltbie and Claire Flewelling at No. 2 doubles the highest as a second seed. They were runners-up up at No. 3 doubles last season. Brooke Schneider and Olivia Laman were last season’s champions at No. 2 doubles; this weekend, Schneider is playing No. 1 singles while Laman is teaming with Stephanie Kelley as a the sixth seed at No. 1 doubles.
Lansing Catholic’s Calla Ramont: Last season’s No. 1 singles runner-up is only the sixth seed heading into this weekend after entering the 2014 Final as a third seed. She won No. 3 singles in 2012.
Kalamazoo Christian’s Audrey Bouma: After winning No. 3 singles the last two seasons, Bouma is moving up to No. 2 – and is the top seed at that flight.
PHOTO: Okemos’ Emily Struble, here during last season’s No. 1 singles championship match at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final, is among a number of past winners looking to reign again.