The sun beat down on Stefana Vasic ‘16 as she wiped the sweat from her brow and gently bounced the ball twice on the concrete, floated it up high into the air, and delivered a hard overhand serve.

Smooth backhands and sharp forehands laced together a careful series of volleys, until finally the entire year’s work seemed to pay off. Vasic and Megan Hickey ‘15 had just upset the number one overall doubles seed, Stevenson High School, at the 2014 IHSA Tennis State tournament, to advance to the quarterfinals and set the standard for her senior year.
“It was unreal,” Vasic said. “All these news reporters wanted to talk to us and interview us, and I just couldn’t make out any words.”

Vasic and Hickey went on to complete an impressive victory over Glenbrook North in the quarterfinals and eventually a state finish of fourth place overall for doubles, a moment Vasic cites as her favorite while playing for LT tennis.
All of the hard work it took to get to this point dates back to her early childhood. Vasic started playing competitive tennis when she was just 8 years old at the Hinsdale Racquet Club, an organization she still practices with today. They weren’t her only coaches and source of motivation, however.

“My older sister started playing tennis before I was even born, and I wanted to be just like her,” Vasic said. “Everyday when she would go to practice, I would go with her just to watch, and that got me really into the sport. Once I started, I couldn’t stop.”

Vasic grew up practicing with her sister, Jovana Vasic, and eventually the two were joined by her younger brother and it became a family sport. It became routine for Vasic to attend her sister’s meets, and it wasn’t long before her sister was almost like a coach to her, Vasic said.

“She was always giving me tips to make me better,” Vasic said. “But she wasn’t just a coach. She was my role model, in all aspects of my life.”

On Aug. 24, 2011, her sister passed away from injuries sustained in a car accident. Vasic was in eighth grade and her sister was going to be a junior in college. After this, Vasic stopped playing tennis for a year, before realizing a change was needed.

“When she passed away, I didn’t want to play anymore because it was too hard, it reminded me too much of her,” Vasic said. “I came back because I realized that she wouldn’t want me to do this, she would want me to do what makes me happy. Tennis is what makes me who I am. She would want me to be the best player I could be.”

Vasic entered her freshman year burning with fire and a new drive to play better than she ever had before. She made the varsity girls tennis team as a freshman, and her growth both as a player and as a leader has skyrocketed ever since.

“She was more reserved as a freshman coming onto the varsity team, as I’m sure any freshman would be,” Varsity Head Coach Bill Wham said. “Now, she’s very outgoing and a team leader. She’s become much more consistent, grown very aggressive and she’s probably one of the best volleyers on the team.”

Throughout her career, Vasic has played a mix of both singles and doubles, and has experienced great success in both areas. In 2014, Vasic finished in first place overall at the conference singles championship, and won sectionals for doubles, in addition to her fourth place finish at state.

This year, Vasic expects similar glory as she enters her fourth season on varsity, and captains a girls tennis team very similar to last year’s alongside co-captain Sophie Allison ‘16. The team only lost one member, Hickey, who played at state last year.

It won’t all be a single-handed effort, however. Much of her success and comfort level on the court is because of her teammates, who even as a freshman were always supportive in helping her grow both as a player and as a person, Vasic said.

“She has really developed an on-court charisma,” Allison said. “She’s a people person, and that makes her a good team leader. Her attitude and dominance on the court has helped her grow more confident in all areas of her life, and people now genuinely just want to be around her.”

This on-court charisma has been one of the primary reasons the team has been so efficient at practices recently. Under her leadership, the team has started practices and drills on its own without its coach, and really works to get better every single day, Wham said.

“She works really hard,” Wham said. “If you watch her play, she moves really well. You can tell she’s a talented athlete. If I were a college coach, I would recruit her in two seconds.”

Vasic plans to continue her tennis career next year at a Division I collegiate level; however, she hasn’t yet decided where she is going to play. She hopes to commit to a school sometime in the next few months, and continue playing right where her sister left off.

“She’s definitely one of my primary motivations now to keep playing,” Vasic said. “I really just want to make her proud.”