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Carolina Williams was playing the best tennis of her life when an unfathomable double tragedy rocked her family and knocked her off course.

In the span of an hour at different locations in the same city, Williams’ grandfather and birth mother both died.

Williams, 18, has been raised by her grandparents since 8 months old because her birth parents struggled with substance abuse. Despite her battles, she remained close with her birth mom, Brookelyn Dirk, a former highly-ranked junior player.

On Feb. 20, 2021, Williams and her grandmother, Sherry Dirk, woke up at their home in Greensboro, North Carolina and discovered her grandfather had died in his sleep from a pulmonary embolism.

Knowing they needed to go tell Brookelyn, they drove to the house where she was living. Once they arrived, Brookelyn’s roommate said she wasn’t getting up. Shortly after, they received a call from the landlord saying Brookelyn had died from an overdose that morning.

The shock quickly began to set in for both Carolina and Sherry. In what seemed like the blink of an eye wrapped inside a long nightmare, Carolina lost the biggest male role model in her life and a birth mom who became like a sister. Sherry lost a doting husband and a daughter she always prayed would overcome her demons.

“It has been pretty awful,” Sherry said. “The funeral home wouldn’t even let us pay for my daughter’s service because they said they had never seen anything like that happen in the 50 to 60 years they had been doing it.”

Her world turned upside down, Williams’ performance began to suffer once she picked up her racket again. Hoping the sport she loved may serve as a safe haven, it started to produce nothing but frustration.

“My tennis just went down the drain because I could not focus at all on the court. I remember trying to play tournaments and just wanting to go home and just not be there. I started to hate tennis,” she said. “I was not in the mindset to play and it made me not like it. It was mentally exhausting.”

On top of the emotional pain she was experiencing, Williams was hindered by injuries that forced her to take time off to heal. She lost some of her support system when Williams and Dirk moved to Port Aransas, Texas so they could be closer to the family’s deep sea fishing business and keep that running in her grandfather’s absence.

“She was 16 and she had to leave all her friends behind while she was still dealing with her grief,” Dirk said. “She was going through so many things that a teenage girl just shouldn’t have to deal with at that time.”

Williams started to lose hope that one of her biggest tennis dreams would ever become a reality.

“I always wanted the opportunity to play in college, but I just didn’t know if I necessarily had what it took mentally,” she said. “It finally got to the point where I told myself I just had to power through it and see what I can do with it because I know Papa always wanted me to play in college.”

Driven by her grandfather’s memory, Williams gradually rekindled her passion for the sport. She began contacting schools, and got in touch with University of Texas at Tyler head coach Chris Bizot.

Williams made a visit to campus and fell in love with the surroundings. The three-star senior signed to play for the NCAA Division II Patriots during the opening of the signing period in November.

“I always said I wanted a D1 school, but that is not what really matters,” Williams said. “What matters is finding the right fit and finding the right coaches and getting along with the girls on the team. I think I found that.”

Gerry Maingot worked with Wiliams’ mother and her uncle Bryan, who is the director of tennis at the Tucson Country Club in Arizona, while they were growing up. He started teaching Willams when she was around 5 and would visit Texas in the summers.

Maingot could see Williams making big strides in her game right before the deaths threw her world into disruption.

“She is a budding star and all of a sudden that happens to her,” said Maingot, the Director of Tennis at Corpus Christi Country Club. “But she has rebounded from it hugely. Carolina is not one to sit there and boo-hoo about things. I have never seen her cry and that is really just kind of ‘wow’ because I’m not sure I could do it. She is a strong kid.”

Having recently recovered from a back surgery to remove a cyst, Williams will be working out at the club with Maingot and teaching pro Celia Rodriguez, who played at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, until she leaves for UT-Tyler next fall.

“Knowing all of that is behind her, I think Carolina is at the beginning of the runway,” Maingot said. “It is going to be super exciting to see her back playing. I think she has a great chance to have a lot of success in college with the style she plays and having that team support around her.”

Memories of Williams’ birth mother are never far from her mind. She used to call her after matches hoping she would be in a good enough state of mind to pick up the phone and discuss how she played.

Brookelyn once harbored big college dreams herself. She had a full scholarship to LSU, but started “running with the wrong crowd” before she left for Baton Rouge.

“She didn’t always fit in with the other kids and made some poor choices and then kind of spiraled,” Dirk said. “She had to come home from college to have surgery for a rotator cuff injury and was kind of gone from that point. She was already headed in that direction a couple of years before and just kind of fell apart.”

Brookelyn became clean while she was pregnant with Carolina and seemed to be turning a corner. But a thyroid tumor and ruptured disk in her neck sent her “into a tailspin” again. She was in and out of rehab and eventually signed over parental rights of her daughter to Dirk and her husband.

“Both parents decided it was the best,” Dirk said. “Carolina still had a great relationship with both of them and they both just knew it was the better choice for her. It was temporary at first and turned into permanent.”

Williams is grateful for how things worked out. She knows many kids in similar situations aren’t as fortunate.

“I am very lucky they took me in because I don’t know where I would be. They didn’t hesitate to raise another kid, which was amazing,” she said. “They were always super supportive and would always go to all my events no matter what I was doing. I have always considered them my mom and dad.”

After the move to Texas, Williams began attending high school in person for the first time. The students and staff at Port Aransas High held a signing day ceremony in her honor once she chose UT-Tyler.

“It’s not like a huge high school, but I actually love it so far,” Williams said. “I have met a bunch of friends and it’s been a very good decision for me. It’s been very exciting.”

Dirk was hoping Williams would sign with UT-Tyler, but didn’t want to influence her decision. She believed the family atmosphere and attentive coaching staff was just what Williams needed in her life.

Williams will be close enough to home for Dirk to watch several matches in person. She’s been doing it since Williams first picked up a racket, and loves nothing more than seeing her smile and laugh on the court.

Those emotions were missing for so long after the tragedy they experienced together. After all they have been though, it means even more to see Williams achieve her dream and reach this milestone.

“Grief is a crazy thing. It’s a roller coaster ride, but we are on the other side of it now,” Dirk said. “Carolina is pretty resilient. I have to hand it to her. It was a lot for me, and I can’t imagine going through that at her age. But I feel like she’s got everything handled and I think it’s all worked out and she will have a wonderful experience in college.”

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at [email protected].