Carmel’s Rao wraps both arms around high school tennis

Carmel junior Christina Rao’s determination to play her favorite sport could be viewed as a left-handed compliment.

A bout with tennis elbow and an ulnar nerve issue in Rao’s right arm forced her off the court last fall. She couldn’t compete in USTA tournaments and started to contemplate some extreme measures in March to start playing again.

“I realized it wasn’t OK if I wasn’t playing tennis,” Rao said while helping Carmel win the team title in Saturday’s Lakes Invitational. “I loved it so much I started playing left-handed. I wasn’t very good, but I decided I would still try out for the varsity and see how I could do.”

Fortunately for Rao, such a drastic change wasn’t necessary as her right arm started to get better during the summer. But the injury had some benefits as she realized her form, while effective, led to her injury.

“It helped me so much with my strokes because my structure wasn’t good and I didn’t have good form,” Rao said of her left-handed stint. “Now my backhand is stronger. I learned how to play smarter because my style last year was straight power.”

And that’s been a necessity in her jump to No. 1 singles for the Corsairs with Bri Minor, who was fifth in the state last year as a sophomore, opting to play on the tournament circuit this season. Rao took second at Lakes with a title-match loss to standout Grant freshman Gaby Schoenberg.

“It’s so scary and so different ... and I got so used to Bri beating everyone,” said Rao, who played at No. 2 the last two years. “Now I’m playing her level of competition and it’s such a difference. There are so many talented girls at these schools who are really difficult.

“It’s actually helped me a lot because the girls I’m playing now are all good. Even the girls who are 10 times better, you can learn from them and learn mentally how to stay strong and how to fight back.”

Which Rao will continue to do with upcoming tests in today’s trip to East Suburban Catholic Conference power Benet, Monday’s dual at Warren and then the ESCC and sectional tourneys.

“I love the competition and I love working hard,” said Rao, who has played since she was 5. “You put the time and energy in and can see the results and it’s just fun. High school tennis especially is super fun with the social aspect.

“Six months off with a lot of free time was so horrible. I was so bored doing physical therapy and it was such a rough experience.”

Not double trouble: Some doubles teams don’t stay together long because of changes, injuries or mixing like oil and water. But friendship and camaraderie are why seniors Michelle Kannenberg and Kathleen Felicelli have been a perfect blend for four years at Carmel.

Kannenberg believes they are the first duo in the program to play together for four years.

“We clicked really well from the start,” Kannenberg said. “It’s never been a question. It’s always been Michelle and Kathleen.”

Kannenberg and Felicelli won the Lakes No. 1 doubles title. Their only losses after the weekend were to Stevenson’s Kendall Kirsch and Alexxis Kiven and Crystal Lake Central’s Evelyn Youel and Jillian Wallace. Kannenberg and Felicelli won their first two matches at state as sophomores but were sidelined last year when Kannenberg had a dislocated knee and Felicelli had tendinitis in her wrist.

So a return trip to state would be fitting for the pair, who knew each other from middle school basketball but became friends at a summer tennis camp before their freshman year at Carmel.

“We both love doubles and it seemed like a perfect fit,” Felicelli said. “We both had similar playing styles. We’re both athletic and we can run down balls and we try hard. We play the same way.

“We communicate a lot on the court and that helps. We practice so much together we’re used to it.”

Patriots power ahead: A pair of successful Saturday trips to Prospect helped set up Stevenson for today’s big North Suburban Lake showdown with defending state champion Lake Forest (4:30 p.m. at Vernon Hills Athletic Complex).

Stevenson won the Power 8 title two weeks ago and then defended its Fall Classic title with a 74-68 victory over New Trier. But bringing home more hardware isn’t why coach Tom Stanhope likes what he sees with the postseason on the horizon.

“So far this year we’ve seen improvement across the board and it’s been rapid improvement,” Stanhope said. “Very quick improvement from every single part of the lineup.

“Overall I thought (the Fall Classic) was a good tournament. It was a long day with four matches and Homecoming, so there were a lot of distractors. But I thought we adjusted well and were as focused as we could be.”

Stevenson’s Zoe Manion won the Fall Classic’s No. 1 singles title 6-3, 6-4 over New Trier’s Taylor Tamblyn, who was 4-2 at state last year. The No. 1 doubles team of Kendall Kirsch and Alexxis Kiven won 6-0, 7-6 (7-1) over Oak Park-River Forest’s Taylor Arends and Tess Trinka, who took sixth at state a year ago.

The Patriots also got doubles titles from Michelle Tulchinskaya-Kaylin Dong (No. 2), Bryn Rubin-Caroline Kelmis (No. 3) and Gwenna Heidkamp-Thalia Noegroho (No. 4).

Stevenson won all seven spots in the Power 8 as Vinaya Rao and Rachel Mopper also won titles at Nos. 2 and 3 singles respectively and Nikki Rezania and Lindsey Waxman won the No. 4 doubles title.

While Stanhope said “it will be fun” seeing Lake Forest for the second time this year, he also kept things in perspective with the three-day NSC tournament starting next Thursday.

“I know New Trier was missing it’s top player at No. 1 singles (last weekend) and there are teams in the state that are better than what we’ve seen so far,” Stanhope said. “I think we’re in the mix but we have to work hard and continue to improve.”

Lakes’ even-keeled Lass: Lakes coach Bryan Plinske said it’s tough to tell how senior Stephanie Lass is playing without knowing the score. There aren’t going to be a lot of emotional displays — good or bad — from Lass, who rebounded to finish fifth at her team’s invite Saturday.

“She’s very unassuming and very quiet,” Plinske said of his four-year varsity player. “She goes out and wants to win and there is a drive behind that quiet exterior a lot of opponents don’t see.

“She’s not boisterous and she’ll take every point like she took the last one. That calmness can unnerve people.”

But there is no mistaking Lass’ competitive edge. Lass rolled her ankle earlier this season and wanted to keep playing but Plinske held her out for a week with the bigger picture in mind.

Lass would like to cap the improvement she’s showed during her high school career with a trip to the state tournament.

“She’s really stepped up her game,” Plinske said. “She’s very thoughtful about what she’s doing. She can recognize what the proper shot is and execute it.”

Slicing up the sectionals: Most of the teams in Lake County have been split up between the Stevenson and Antioch sectionals Oct. 18-19.

The Patriots will host Libertyville, Carmel, Grant, Mundelein, Vernon Hills, Round Lake, Wauconda and McHenry. Antioch will host Lake Forest, Warren, Grayslake Central, Grayslake North, Lakes, Johnsburg, North Chicago, Waukegan and Zion-Benton.

Lake Zurich is at the Lake Park sectional.