Some day, River Hill freshman Rena Shi may remember May 6, 2008 as the day she came of age. That was the day that she defeated Marriotts Ridge senior Haley Katsman, 8-5, to earn the deciding point in the county title match.

Shi's win gave River Hill (13-3, 14-3), which didn't even know it was playing in Tuesday's county title match until Sunday night, a 3-2 win over previously undefeated Marriotts Ridge (15-0, 15-1).

"I didn't see too many nerves. They were calm and collected and I think that had something to do with it ... no one had a chance to think too much," said River Hill coach Maureen Shelley of her underdog Hawks.

At 15-0, Marriotts Ridge had everything to lose. But the Mustangs knew how tough the battle would be. In their first meeting, Marriotts Ridge eked out a 3-2 win.

At No. 2 singles, River Hill's Lamie Nguyen -- who is truly a No. 1 singles player masquerading as an understudy -- did what most expected and won her match 8-3.

Then the Mustangs strong doubles teams of Stephanie Jones and exchange student Liset Meyer (No. 1) and Sugene Shin and Casey Weickgenannt (No. 3), each won their matches 8-5.

Jones and Meyer fought off a game Hawk duo of Kelley Miller and Oriana Estrada.

River Hill's performance at No. 1 doubles was valiant because Miller's regular partner, Taylor Fenlon, was out sick and Estrada had to come all the way up from the alternate pool.

Estrada was informed of the move on the bus on the way to Marriotts Ridge. She had to borrow a male teammate's size 8 shoes (she wears a size 5) and borrow another teammate's racket at first.

"But then my mom came with my stuff so it was OK," she said.

Shelley's decision to not bump up a No. 2 doubles player paid off, as River Hill's team of Nicole Liaw and Laura Triscoli upset Marriotts Ridges' previously undefeated team of Taylor Klein and Brianne Leaf.

"Their serves were a little better, they were more consistent, and they made less unforced errors," Shelley said.

That keystone win caused a 2-2 tie and set the stage for Shi's grand finale.

"I didn't think there was that much pressure. I wanted to win," said Shi, who will play mixed doubles in the county tournament.

On Monday, the Centennial (14-2, 16-2) boys defeated River Hill (14-2, 14-3), 4-1, to win the team title.

River Hill's sophomore duo of Kyle Butler and Vinay Raju put the Hawks on the board by winning No. 2 doubles.

Even in loss, River Hill capped a successful season by climbing all the way back to the county championship match after starting the season 0-2.

"We had a great season, we're excited to be back here next year," Raju said.

E-mail Andrew Conrad at aconrad@patuxent.com.

Grace Cheng contributed to this story.

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