COLLEGE PARK, MD — Despite losing to Wootton sophomore Miranda Deng, 6-2, 6-3, in the girls singles state championship match on Saturday afternoon at the University of Maryland, Atholton senior Victoria Kogan couldn't hide her smile.
After embracing Deng across the net, Kogan joyfully posed for pictures with her opponent, who also won the state title last year as a freshman.
"I finished strong. Miranda played a great match today," said Kogan, who also made it to the state finals as a sophomore before sitting out of high school tennis last year to focus on USTA competition. "We've played each other a couple of times in USTA tournaments and sometimes we practice together, so we're good friends."
Kogan was one of five Howard County competitors to advance to the second day of the tournament, ensuring a top-four finish, but the only one to compete for a state title.
River Hill's boys doubles team of Nick Zhu and Prateek Swamykumar, Mt. Hebron's girls doubles team of Serene Mathew and Tess Weber, and Centennial's mixed doubles team of Andrew Tsai and Jazmin Walle all placed third, while Atholton junior Matt Sklar placed fourth in boys singles.
Kogan, who will compete for George Washington next year, accomplished a lot in her career at Atholton, winning a county title and three region titles and leading the Raiders to County Cup trophies in 2012 and 2013.
After losing in this year's county tournament finals to Marriotts Ridge sophomore Abby Thornton, Kogan turned things around in the regional tournament, and that strong play propelled her all the way to the state finals.
"It felt pretty good, I didn't want to play like (in the county finals) again," she said. "I definitely upped my game in both regionals and states ... I'm sad to see that it's over but I'm super excited to play for GW next year."
Sklar, who lost in the quarterfinals last year, was pleased to advance to the second day of the tournament for the first time, but was motivated by Saturday's losses to Severna Park's Alex Cauneac, the eventual champion, and Bel Air's Michael Quang.
"The first two matches went well (on Friday). I was pretty happy to get through this year, I was relieved, so I figured I'd come out here and play a little looser," said Sklar, a two-time county champion. "But Cauneac and Quang are really good. It's tough hitting against them. They have a lot of pace and they don't really give you much. I'll probably be looking to train with some people who hit more like them so next year I'm more used to that style of play ... I'm already looking forward to next year."
Zhu and Swamykumar came into last year's tournament with few expectations, but after winning the state title — Howard County's first boys doubles state title in almost 30 years — this tournament had a much different feel.
"Last year we weren't really expecting to win, we just went out there and tried our best," Zhu said. "This year we were expecting to win."
Zhu and Swamykumar lost to Whitman's Jack Welch and Andrew Leung, 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals, then bounced back to beat South River's Robert Rider and Alex Bach, 6-3, 7-5, for third.
"This year we felt like we should win, and that was a lot more pressure," said Swamykumar, a sophomore.
Centennial's Tsai and Walle, and Mt. Hebron's Mathew and Weber had never placed at the state tournament before Saturday.
"We're happy to have made it this far. Of course we thought we could have gone farther," said Walle, a sophomore. "In the semis (three-set loss) we just kind of lost intensity. In the first set we were full of confidence."
Mathew, a senior, had won three regional titles in her career, but got her first state tournament medal with the help of Weber on Saturday.
"I'm really happy. This was going to be the last time being with my coach (Lisa Vitali) and my teammates, so it's sad, but it's good," Mathew said.