By Dave Yanovitz
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, May 18, 2006

The big story of last week's Anne Arundel County tennis tournament at Anne Arundel Community College was who wasn't playing girls' singles. Old Mill senior Christine Aggabao and Arundel sophomore Amy Olson, easily the class of the county this season, decided to forgo singles competition and instead play doubles -- Aggabao with her friend and fellow senior Kristen King, and Olson with her younger sister, Jenny.

The pairs won their preliminary matches and met in last Saturday's best-of-three-sets final. The Olsons won the first set, 6-4, before Aggabao and King jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set. It appeared the match would head to a third set, but the Olson sisters won five straight games to capture the county title, 6-4, 6-4.

"I think lack of experience hurt them playing Amy and Jenny," Old Mill Coach Chrissy Postell said of Aggabao and King. "But that second-set loss fueled [Christine and Kristen]. They're ready to go" at the regionals.

Aggabao and Olson's decision not to play singles means they won't be able to vie for a region or state title in singles, only doubles. The pairs could meet again in the regional tournament, which begins today at North Point High in Waldorf.

With Aggabao and Olson out, the girls' singles draw was left wide open. Broadneck sophomore Michelle Jordan drew the No. 1 seed and didn't disappoint, defeating Southern's Nicole Aylor in the final, 6-3, 6-3.

"She was down 0-3 in the first set and her head was down," said Broadneck Coach Mike Hudson. "I said, 'Come on, let's get going.' Being the No. 1 seed can be a bit overwhelming, but she started relaxing and gaining confidence as the match went on."

Jordan's points, combined with the team of Kevin Murray and Brendan Wallace winning the boys' doubles title (2-6, 6-4, 6-3 over Severna Park's Ben Rosenthal and Patrick Rice), helped the Bruins capture the team title. Severna Park, the defending champs, finished tied for second with Arundel. Old Mill took fourth.

The boys' singles title went to Arundel senior Emre Ucal for the second straight season. Ucal completed an unblemished spring with a 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 win over Old Mill freshman Harsha Rao in the final. Rao, however, is bypassing the regional tournament to play in a USTA event. Consequently, Broadneck sophomore Zach Hare, who finished fifth in boys' singles by beating South River's Mason Ailshie, advanced to the regionals in Rao's place.

Sarah Searing and Matt Bouchard of Old Mill won the mixed doubles title with a 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 victory over Severna Park's Pari Papaioannu and Matt Balleza.