The Roland Park tennis team came into this week's Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference tournament on a roll, and nobody was able to stop it.
After going undefeated for a third consecutive regular season, the Reds finished off another perfect year Friday by edging host McDonogh and Bryn Mawr and winning their fourth straight A Conference team title.
The Reds won one singles and one doubles title while earning spots in four of the five championship matches. They finished with 16 points, just enough to beat out McDonogh (13) and Bryn Mawr (12). McDonogh also won two championships, while Bryn Mawr took one.
Roland Park coach Cheryl Lynch said the way her players help each other is a big reason for their success.
"They have a great camaraderie," Lynch said. "The greater goal is what their goal is, [and] I think everyone is supportive."
Roland Park's Audrey Todd beat McDonogh's Sara Fioretti, 6-3, 6-0, to win the No. 2 singles title. Todd won at No. 1 singles last year but moved to No. 2 to let her sister Ava take that spot.
Audrey Todd will play lacrosse at Harvard starting next fall. She also made the championship round two years ago, losing there, and said playing in the finals for a third straight season helped her relax a bit.
"It just felt comfortable," Todd said. "It just felt like another match."
Roland Park's other title came when Hera Koliatsos and Katie Tutrone topped Severn's Monique Dalton and Susan Morrell in No. 2 doubles. The two Roland Park juniors scored a 6-0, 6-1 victory on the blustery, windy afternoon.
The Reds lost in the finals for both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Bryn Mawr's Gina Hong and Ellie McLaughlin scored a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Kelsey Dwyer and Kristin Polk at No. 1. The two Bryn Mawr seniors completed a 9-0 season with that victory.
McDonogh senior Katie Doherty and junior Rachel Morrison teamed up to outlast Roland Park seniors Nicole Lynch and Heather Oros, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, in the No. 3 doubles final.
McDonogh's second championship came when freshman Gabrielle Centenari bounced back from a slow start to beat Bryn Mawr's Caroline Williams, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
MIAA A Conference Tennis Tournament
(at McDonogh)
Team scores (top 3)
1 Roland Park, 16; 2. McDonogh, 13; 3. Bryn Mawr, 12
Finals
Singles
No. 1- Centenari (MCD) d. Williams (BM), 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
No. 2- Au. Todd (RP) d. Fioretti (MCD), 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1-- Hong/McLaughlin (BM) d. Dwyer/Polk (RP), 6-2, 6-3
No. 2—Koliatsos/Tutrone (RP) d. Dalton/Morrell (SEV), 6-0, 6-1
No. 3—Doherty/Morrison (MCD) d. Lynch/Oros (RP), 6-2, 3-6, 6-2