Reality set in for Stevenson junior Vinaya Rao when she woke up Sunday morning.
“Last night, it really didn’t sink in,” she said Sunday. “But this morning I had about a million messages from friends and family. And then I remembered, ‘that’s right, we won state.’ “
Rao and her freshman partner, Katherine Harvey did it in style last weekend, not dropping a set over three days and finishing with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory against Hinsdale Central’s Erika Oku and Stephanie Dolehide to become Stevenson’s second state-winning doubles team in as many years.
The win, along with a fifth-place finish from Zoe Taylor and Kaylin Dong also helped the Patriots to a second place team finish behind Hinsdale Central.
Rao and Harvey proved a perfect match for a state run. Rao was a two-time state qualifier as a singles player, and her experience at the highest level helped her partner deal with any nerves.
“She definitely helped me,” Harvey said. “It helped me a lot in terms of what to expect and what to do. It was just insane. It was crazy to be even playing at the state tournament. Winning it is incredible.”
Winning in general was not a problem for Harvey and Rao this season. They only lost one match all year, and that happened at the Lincolnshire Sectional, where they finished runner up to Taylor and Dong.
“They were playing well all season, but when they lost in the sectional, I feel like it re-focused them,” Stevenson coach Tom Stanhope said. “But it also made them believers. It showed them that they were capable of playing with the best in the state. That was really the turning point.”
Their ability to stay focused through three days enabled their championship run. It also helped that neither was completely confident that they’d even make it to Saturday’s finals.
“Winning state was something neither one of us expected,” Rao said. “All we were focused on was getting as deep as possible and helping the team get points. Our main goal was to win as a team. But the farther we got in, the more we started to think about winning it.
“Even after the last point we didn’t believe it.”