Mellynchuk, Broadneck Tennis Complete Threepeat

Olivia Mellynchuk and the Broadneck tennis team are both three-time state champions.

Mellynchuk reached the girls singles final for the fourth year in a row, winning her third straight title on May 24 by defeating Winston Churchill's Lily Ganjbaksh 6-2, 6-2.

The Army-bound senior was one of four scoring entries for Broadneck in the five competitions, helping the Bruins win their third straight team title. This one came outright, after winning on a tiebreaker last year and sharing the title in 2023. They scored 20 points to Churchill's 19.

“Truly is a team effort,” said Broadneck tennis head coach Andrew “Rex” Kennedy. “If everyone didn’t win their respective matches, even for second or third place, we wouldn’t have been able to secure a third consecutive state title.”

Broadneck's Hadley Crooks and Gigi Garner reached the girls doubles final but fell 6-4, 6-0. Anissa Jean-Claude and Ryan Sar reached the mixed doubles final but fell 6-4, 7-6. Henry Cukor and Kekoa Hamilton finished third in the boys doubles competition.

“Broadneck relied heavily on the dominance of senior captain Olivia Mellynchuk and the versatility of junior captains Hadley Crooks and Anissa Jean-Claude,” Kennedy said. “While Olivia dominated the singles spot, it should be noted that Hadley and Anissa paired with six different teammates throughout the year, showing their ability to reach high levels regardless of who they were paired with.”

In the 3A competition, Severna Park's Brynn Bilnoski capped a stellar tournament by claiming the girls singles title over Mount Hebron's Riya Rai, 6-3, 6-4.

Unseeded, Bilnoski knocked off second-seeded Rai the day after knocking out top seed Katherine Yao of Thomas S. Wootton in a super tiebreak, 10-8, after they split the first two sets of their semifinal.

Carys Preston and Gavin Gerard reached the mixed doubles final but lost in a super tiebreak. Ty Maddox and Koby Bragg finished third in boys doubles.

Severna Park finished third in the team standings.