Roland Captures Girls’ Singles Title Again

Jessica Roland of Hollywood High won the singles championship at the City Section individual tennis tournament for the second consecutive year Monday, defeating freshman Yelena Olshanskaya of Fairfax, 6-3, 6-0, in the final at the Warner Center Tennis Club.

Roland, seeded No. 1 in the 32-player draw, defeated Yelena’s older sister, Kristina, in the final last year.

“It was hard to get in a groove and I was missing a lot of volleys early so I stayed back more until I got my rhythm,” said Roland, a senior headed to Texas A&M.;

After trading ground strokes for most of the first set, Roland used her serve-and-volley style to save three break points for a 2-0 lead in the second set. She broke the second-seeded Olshanskaya at love to take a 5-0 lead, then held serve to win the match when Olshanskaya netted three backhands.

Roland, ranked 34th in the nation in the 18-and-under age division by the USTA, became the first female athlete in school history to win two City championships in any sport.

In the third-place match, Judith De Vera of Carson beat Jasmin Dao of Granada Hills, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Top-seeded Shannon Slotnick and Caryn Linder of Granada Hills beat second-seeded Jennifer Lin and Setarah Safii of Palisades, 6-2, 6-0, in the doubles final.