Fenwick High School doubles partners Emma Louderback and Lucy Gruber are competing at the IHSA girls tennis state finals in Buffalo Grove starting Thursday, Oct. 22.

The Oak Park school's pair qualified by finishing third at sectionals, coming back from a 1-6 first-set loss to beat St. Ignatius's Sophie Espaldon and Ivie Ehimwenman 6-4, 6-4 in the final two sets of the third-place match, according to oakpark.com. The top four doubles teams from each sectional advance to state.

Gruber, a River Forest resident, and Louderback, from Elmhurst, were not playing together at the start of the season. A wave of injuries hit the Friars, and head coach Ron Rogala paired them for the sectional tournament. The sectional was the first time they competed as a doubles team in a match.

"We were able to work together well in practice," Gruber told oakpark.com. "These were the first matches we played together."

Louderback told the outlet the pair found their rhythm fast. "We really adapted well to the change and found a way to play well together," she said.

Fenwick's athletics account announced the state appearance on Wednesday, Oct. 21, listing both players as members of the class of 2027. Oakpark.com identified them as seniors. The discrepancy could not be resolved from available sources.

Fenwick finished third overall at the sectional with 15 points, behind champion OPRF with 28 and runner-up St. Ignatius. Several other Friars posted results at the event. The doubles team of Mary Dobry and Jane Steinhagen beat Lincoln Park's Ellie Chow and Astrid Rosario 6-2, 6-4, then topped Lane Tech's Sophia Stephanou and Kira Draney 6-4, 6-2 before losing to Espaldon and Ehimwenman 2-6, 1-6 in the quarterfinals.

In singles, Riley Boos won her opener 6-3, 6-1 over Lane Tech's Julia Brizzolara before falling 0-6, 0-6 in the quarterfinals. Meg Prabhu lost her first-round match to OPRF's Lucy Stein 0-6, 0-6.

The state finals run through Saturday, Oct. 24. Louderback and Gruber's first-round opponent and draw position had not been reported as of Thursday.