Ashley Rodarte and Nikhita Jayaraj are about as dominant as high school athletes get, without so much glitz and glamour as other sports' athletes get. The Perry duo - a senior and junior respectively - claimed their third consecutive AIA Division 1 Doubles State Championship Saturday in a 21-11, 19-21, 21-11 victory.
Before serving, up 20-11 in the deciding game, the Puma duo merely made eye contact, needing no words to communicate before winning the final point. After several years of playing together, there is not a whole lot that needs to be said for encouragement or strategy. Everything is intuitive.
“We’ve just bonded well," Jayaraj said. "I know where she is going to go, she knows where I’m going to go.”
That chemistry both on and off the court was near instant, but almost never even happened. Coach Lerina Johnson remembers a crop of talented freshmen in 2018 - including Jayaraj and 2020 singles runner-up Kate Macpherson among others - that had yet to establish doubles partners.
But, as soon as she saw the two share a court she could sense something special. A pairing of left and right-handedness, mixed with skills that complemented each other and a shared competitive nature, the two were a great fit.
“We had to go through a process of different people playing together, playing with others. And they gelled the best," Johnson said.
That same year, they surprised the state by storming to the top.
A sophomore and freshman seeded No. 5 at the time, Rodarte and Jayaraj surprised even themselves in a straight-sets upset in the 2018 semifinals over the No. 1 Corona del Sol duo of Katie Carroll and Eileen Li that had dominated all season.
“We've just kept rolling since then," Jayaraj said.
The pair won that championship in relatively-easy fashion, giving up just eleven total points in the final match. They went on to win the year after as the No. 1 seed, facing Perry teammates Sophie Jex and Megan Dye in the 2019 final.
But as tough as the first two titles were, gunning for three straight in one last run together in a tournament that - shortened by COVID-19 precautions - saw the pair play four matches in one day was a difficult task.
"There was more pressure in this one, because everyone was coming for us," Rodarte said.
But with the win, Rodarte and Jayaraj proved the only opponent that could stop them was time, because no other Arizona badminton players could do it.
Though this will be the last of the individual titles together, the Puma pair still has a bit of badminton left. Rodarte and Jayaraj will lead Perry as it aims for another team state title. The No. 1, undefeated Pumas are the favorite to win their fourth consecutive championship in the D1 bracket.
Perry hosts No. 16 Corona del Sol on Nov. 9.