Marriotts Ridge junior Abby Thornton entered the Howard County tennis tournament at Wilde Lake Tennis Club as the heavy favorite, but even she didn't expect such a dominating performance.
The junior, who went 16-0 during the regular season, defeated Long Reach's Snigdha Puram, 6-0, 6-0, in the girls' singles tournament final May 16 to capture her third straight county title, but it was the fact she made it look easy that was so surprising.
"It was just a result of the way I was playing. I was focused on taking it point by point and see where it got me," said Thornton, who won all 48 games played in four 6-0, 6-0 victories en route to the championship. "I really focused on how I could structure points in order to make sure she didn't get a rhythm. I was just playing really well I guess."
Atholton senior Matt Sklar also won his third consecutive boys' singles county title by knocking off Hammond's Jonathan Gorel, 6-1, 6-0. The Mustangs' boys' doubles team of Cade Buch and Stephen Alam won the boys' doubles title, and Mt. Hebron's Tess Weber and Rohil Bahri rolled to the mixed doubles title.
Howard's Alyssa Boryachinskiy and Kailey Caroland edged Glenelg's Anna Hall and Emma Sedlack in the girls doubles final.
Thornton, along with the team of Buch and Alam, also helped lead the Mustangs to their first-ever County Cup title, as they finished ahead of Mt. Hebron in the team race.
"Words can't express how happy I am about this right now. It's something that we've been working toward for a long time," said Marriotts Ridge coach Scott Dingman. "It's an emphasis that we put on the team at the beginning of the season. ... To see it all pan out, we're all really excited about it."
Thornton, who swept Mt. Hebron's Angela Wang in the semifinals, admitted that late in the final set against Puram she started to think about finishing off the county tournament with another shut out. She got it done, but said it wasn't as easy as the score might have shown.
"It was still a really tough match. The game scores were close," she said. "I thought it was going to be closer but we both played well."
Sklar, meanwhile, didn't have the pressure of leading his team to another County Cup like a year ago, but he did have a bull's-eye on his back as the two-time defending champion. He said he played really well with the court playing fast under dry, sunny conditions, something that wasn't all too common during the rain-soaked week.
"I knew coming into this season – Jon even told me – that people are looking to beat me, but every school I've gone to this season I've sort of gotten used to being in that spot," said Sklar, who beat beat Centennial's William Liu, 6-1, 6-2, to reach the final. "It's kind of new but at the same time I'm familiar with it from the regular season. I like it. People bring their best stuff against me. That makes me play well too."
In the championship, Sklar said he was hitting top-heavy balls, which he said worked well against Gorel, who tends to stay back on the court. It allowed him to stay aggressive and keep his options open, he said.
"I've played Jon before and I really know all about him and he brings it every time. He's always ready to play," said Sklar, who dropped just four games in his four wins. "I felt like I came out here and really played well. I got to play on the court in front of everybody, so I was pretty pleased with that. I didn't come in expecting any score. I just wanted to play well against Jon."
Both Buch, a senior, and Alam, a freshman, had spent much of the season playing singles but teamed up late in the season to help the team try to win the County Cup.
Stepping off the court after defeating Centennial's Andrew Tsia and Peter Ho in three tight sets in the final, Buch sighed in relief and muttered, "finally."
"I've been trying to win a county title in singles for three years now but always ran into Matt Sklar or Ram (Kotnana) or somebody," he said. "I finally teamed up with a freshman and it's been awesome. We finally got that win. I like seeing something that says champion on it instead of finalist."
Top-seeded Weber and Bahri won all four matches in straight sets to win the mixed doubles title, which wasn't played during matches in the regular season. They beat River Hill's Prateek Swamykumar and Anna Artasova, 6-2, 6-2, in the final.
All players or teams that advanced to the tournament semifinals advance to the regional tournament, scheduled for May 19 at Wilde Lake Tennis Club and May 20 at Howard High School. Advancing in the girls' singles are Thornton, Puram, River Hill's Jessica Strongin (third place), and Mt. Hebron's Wang (fourth place). In boys' singles, Sklar, Gorel, Centennial's Liu (third place) and Mt. Hebron's Michael Kimack (fourth place) qualified.
Advancing in girls' doubles are Glenelg's Hall and Sedlack, Howard's Boryachinskiy and Caroland, Howard's Sydney Balter and Natalie White and Marriotts Ridge's Mifrah Baqai and Avani Badugu.
In boys' doubles, Marriotts Ridge's Buch and Alam, Centennial's Tsia and Ho, Glenelg's Reece Maiden and Shawn Witschen (third place), and River Hill's Osbert Wei and Kevin Liang (fourth place) qualified.
Advancing in mixed doubles are Mt. Hebron's Weber and Bahri, River Hill's Swamykumar and Artasova, Mt. Hebron's Priya Emani and Alex Nazaire (third place), and Marriotts Ridge's Ishan Shah and Veronica Cuellar (fourth place).