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SPORTS
THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
10/18 – 10/19/14
LOCKED AND LOADED
Highland Park’s Frommer/Raab focusing on postseason W's United they play: Highland Park’s Lizzie Raab (left) joins hands with Casey Frommer during the CSL North No. 1 doubles championship match.
■ by bill mclean
sports@northsoreweekend.com Instead of gathering their equipment and rushing off a tennis court after a tough loss at Niles North, Highland Park High School senior doubles partners Casey Frommer and Lizzie Raab stood near a net post and talked. And looked ahead. “Right after the match our thinking was, ‘Let’s learn from this,’ ” Frommer said after a 6-3, 6-3 setback to a pair from Glenbrook North in the No. 1 doubles title match at the Central Suburban League North Meet on Oct. 12. “We needed to be more aggressive and do a better job of finishing points. … We will do that [at the HP Sectional Oct. 17-18]. “We’ll definitely try to go for more.” Added an equally resolute Frommer, “Our coach [Steve Rudman] does not like long points.” Glenbrook North outpointed runner-up HP 50-43 for the overall league championship. Frommer’s tennis game complements Raab’s. A shortstop for the varsity softball team, Frommer fortifies the tandem with her athleticism, particularly at the net. Raab rips groundstrokes, often resulting in feeble replies with Frommer ready to punch an easy volley or crack an overhead if necessary. “They care about competing and winning,” Rudman said of his co-captains. “They’re experienced; they’ve been around, been in big matches. They’ve had a couple of nice wins this season … and a couple of lapses. They have the potential to be a very good doubles team — and a confident doubles team — when they play the way we practice.” Frommer played singles for the Giants’ sectional championship squad in 2013, winning three of five matches at
state. Raab and Kimberly Rhum (HPHS, ’14) went 4-2 in doubles at state and helped HP place eighth — the program’s second top-eight finish in four seasons. Frommer/Raab’s best doubles wins to date came against pairs from New Trier and Edwardsville. The latter doubles team featured two highly athletic netters, Rudman noted. “We hadn’t been accustomed to playing against [that style of play],” Raab said after choosing that victory as Frommer/Raab’s most significant of the regular season. “We set up points well and finished points,” Frommer added. They also played sharp doubles against Glenbrook South’s Martina Dragoytchev/Jessica Chepurda before falling 7-5, 6-4. The pair of Titans reached the fourth round of the state doubles draw after winning a sectional championship last fall and topped the No. 1 doubles field at last weekend’s CSL South Meet. Raab made the Giants’ varsity squad as a freshman; Frommer struck shots on JV in 2011. Two seasons ago, when the future doubles partners were sophomores, Raab welcomed an excited Frommer to the varsity fold after tryouts. “I remember going over to a group of players and asking, ‘Who’s new?’ There was Casey, happy and waving her arms above her head.” Frommer has emerged since then as a “strong, silent leader,” Raab said. Raab, meanwhile, relies on words to motivate and unify a young crew (Rudman’s CSL North Meet lineup included three juniors, two sophomores and a freshman.) Raab is applying early to the University of Pennsylvania, with tentative plans to double major in business and medicine. She is thinking about playing club tennis in college. Frommer might play collegiate tennis and major in either
photography by joel lerner
nutrition or fitness. “We’re both competitive,” Frommer summed. Raab watched Frommer play shortstop for the varsity two springs ago, something she intends to do again in the final spring of their high school lives. Another Casey, bat in hand, didn’t fare well at all for the Mudville Nine in a poem written by Ernest Thayer in 1888. That Casey struck out with two outs and runners on second and third in the last inning. Casey represented the potential winning run. But don’t count on Casey Frommer to wilt in a similar situation — be it on a tennis court or a softball diamond. She batted a team-high .390 as a sophomore (12th on the Giants’ all-time list for single-season batting averages) and fanned only once in 73 at-bats last spring. There will be joy in Highland Park-ville. Notable: Giants seniors Jessica Rosenberg/Rachel Retsky won the No. 2 doubles title via default at the league meet last weekend. Other HP results: junior Phoebe Sacks/ sophomore Emily Langsam (2nd place, No. 3 doubles); junior Sammi Lowy/sophomore Sammi Beerman (2nd, No. 4 doubles); freshman Devin Davidson (2nd, No. 3 singles); junior Jordan Abt (3rd, No. 1 singles); and senior Ashley Levin (3rd, No. 2 singles). … HP vies for state berths at its sectional this weekend, beginning Oct. 17. Other schools in the field include North Suburban Conference runner-up Lake Forest HS, Carmel Catholic, Deerfield and Libertyville. … Quotable: “That why I put them together,” a tonguein-cheek Rudman, on deploying a couple of girls named Sammi (Lowy and Beerman) at No. 4 doubles this fall. … The tightest match in CSL North Meet action Oct. 11 was the final at No. 3 doubles, with a duo from Glenbrook North edging Sacks/Langsam 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5). ■