Performance: East Grand Rapids' Sloane Teske
April 21, 2017
Sloane Teske
East Grand Rapids sophomore – Tennis
Teske capped her first season of high school tennis a year ago by making the No. 1 singles semifinals at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals. And that success should be just the start; Teske is 8-0 this season and won No. 1 singles Saturday at the prestigious Allegan Invitational, coming back to down Detroit Country Day’s Monique Karoub in three sets in the flight final to help the Pioneers to a shared team title with the Yellowjackets – and earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Teske fell to Karoub – last season’s Division 3 champion at No. 2 singles – 6-1 in Saturday’s first set before coming back to win the second 6-0. Teske trailed again in the third set before coming back one more time to win 7-5 and clinch the match victory. The elite pair has faced each other before in United States Tennis Association play, and Karoub had won their most recent match.
Frequently, top high school tennis players focus solely on that sport. But Teske is far more than a tennis star: She also plays on East Grand Rapids' golf team and carries a 4.2 grade-point average. She’s a few years from figuring out her future academically, but enjoys her history and mathematics classes most. A team leader already as an underclassman, she’s hoping to lead the Pioneers to their first MHSAA Finals title since 2009 after they finished runners-up to Bloomfield Hills Marian in 2016. East Grand Rapids currently is ranked No. 1 in Division 2.
Coach Mickey Mikesell said: “We’ve had Mr. Tennis go through here, other kids at the highest level. But one thing about Sloane – the biggest thing, is she’s a natural-born leader. She came in as a freshman, and in some ways took over the team. She played a lot of basketball growing up. Basketball, volleyball, those sports there’s a lot of yelling going on, and she’s like that – even as a freshman, she’s yelling at (her teammates) motivating them, cheering them on, and you rarely see that as a freshman. She has tremendous talent in her game; it’s fantastic, and it’s great having a player like that on a team to keep the team energized. Even when we do team dinners, like before Regionals (last year), she asked me, ‘Can I speak in front of the team?’ Rarely do I have kids do that at any age. … It’s just a good combination. She’s headstrong, she has lots of power, and the biggest thing with her is she’s so competitive, so feisty out there. That fire inside of her … she has a great chance to do something individually every year, but she wants us to win as a team, and that’s a good mix to have as a coach.”
Performance Point: “That day was a very tough day, specifically the conditions we were playing in – it was super windy outside,” Teske said of the Allegan tournament. “Multiple times the wind would be blowing from every direction. It was kinda funny some points, but also frustrating. You’d try to get the ball to go a certain direction, and most of the time it would go somewhere completely different. I was just trying to be very focused. I was aware of how close things were. … I knew it was going to be a tough match going against DCD. I kept the ball in play, tried to be super consistent, and when I saw the opportunity to go hit a winner and end the point, I did. My coaches were my biggest help; after the first set, they helped me to get my mind right and get ready for the next set. … They told me to just clear everything out, block everything out and get back my game and focus. After the match, I was still shocked – I couldn’t believe I came back and won that second set.”
Year older and wiser: “I’ve learned to just keep my cool and composure, just learned to take one match at a time … stay in the moment. It’s kinda tough. It’s hard not to worry about your next match, who you’re going to play, how you’re going to play. When I’m playing, I just block everything out, everyone out, and just focus on what’s in front of me.”
Head in the game: “The strongest part of my game, I just know how to think differently than my opponent. I work points to my favor – I will attack the backhand, and when they think I’m going to their backhand, I’ll go down the line to the forehand and they aren’t expecting that. It’s a fun way to play.”
Tee it up: “I just try to balance my schedule (with tennis and golf), especially during the summer. My parents help me out, trying to make sure I have everything. (Golf) is a break, sometimes for me, to take a break from tennis. And I come back (to tennis) stronger every time.”
It’s about team: “High school is a lot different (than USTA) … you always have your teammate’s back, you cheer for each other and help each other during matches. It’s really a fun thing – it’s different than going out there to be by yourself. … I love the feeling of winning, especially when I can do that with my team too.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
March 30: Romeo Weems, New Haven basketball – Read
March 23: Jaycie Burger and Maddie Clark, Pittsford basketball – Read
March 16: Camden Murphy, Novi swimming & diving – Read
March 9: Ben Freeman, Walled Lake Central wrestling – Read
March 2: Joey Mangner, Chelsea swimming & diving – Read
Feb. 23: Isabelle Nguyen, Grosse Pointe North gymnastics – Read
Feb. 16: Dakota Hurbis, Saline swimming & diving – Read
Feb. 2: Foster Loyer, Clarkston basketball – Read
Jan. 26: Nick Jenkins, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling – Read
Jan. 19: Eileene Naniseni, Mancelona basketball – Read
Jan. 12: Rory Anderson, Calumet hockey – Read
Dec. 15: Demetri Martin, Big Rapids basketball – Read
Dec. 1: Rodney Hall, Detroit Cass Tech football – Read
Nov. 24: Ally Cummings, Novi volleyball – Read
Nov. 17: Chloe Idoni, Fenton volleyball – Read
Nov. 10: Adelyn Ackley, Hart cross country – Read
Nov. 3: Casey Kirkbride, Mattawan soccer – Read
Oct. 27: Colton Yesney, Negaunee cross country – Read
Oct. 20: Varun Shanker, Midland Dow tennis – Read
Oct. 13: Anne Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country – Read
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Sloane Teske returns a volley during last season's Division 2 semifinal match against Mason's Olivia Hanover. (Middle) Teske serves while playing No. 1 singles for East Grand Rapids. (Top photo by HighSchoolSportsScene.com, middle photo courtesy of the East Grand Rapids athletic department.)
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.)