It was the classic battle of experience against youth, the older two-time defending champion against the upstart understudy.

At the City League girls' tennis singles championship Oct. 7, freshman Shawna Jones faced senior Gayle Garvin, who won the City League title her sophomore and junior years and was playing first singles for Allderdice while Jones played second singles for the Dragons.

"It was definitely weird playing a teammate like that," Jones said. "And kind of, like, sad that someone had to lose."

The thing is, playing a teammate in the City League title match has become an Allderdice tradition. Though actually, winning has become more of an Allderdice tradition.

This season alone, the Dragons, once again, swept the City League singles, doubles and team championships.

In the singles title match, Jones defeated Garvin, 6-1, 6-1. Jones is ranked No. 30 by the USTA in the Allegheny Mountain district, which covers Western Pennsylvania and part of West Virginia.

Taught to play the sport by her father when she was only 5, she has trained at the Club 4 Life in Monroeville, entered several USTA and Citiparks tournaments. A baseliner, Jones has a strong forehand.

"She just is a graceful player," Dragons coach Sally Martin said. "She moves very well and she has a very nice feel for the ball. She's able to drop it short or lob it over people's heads and hit it high when she has to. She has a nice smooth serve with some zip to it.

"And she will only get better and better."

It's obvious Jones has great talent. But out of deference to her upperclassman teammate, Jones remained at second singles and no challenge matches were played for the right to play first singles. That means the first time her and Garvin played against each other was in the City League title match.

Garvin would later team with Lauren Rubin to win the City League doubles title. That means she will graduate an eight-time City League champion: Part of the team that won the team title all four of her years, on a City League doubles championship team her freshman and senior seasons and winning the singles titles the two years in between.

"She works very hard, and she's very athletic," Martin said. "She's a very steady player, and she kind of sizes people up. She plays a couple games and eventually finds out what her opponent doesn't like and what will beat them and manages to do that. And she never gives up. She's very determined and when she can finish someone off, she will."

Garvin and Rubin finished off Perry's D.J. Uffolla and Kelsey Squelch, 6-2, 6-2, in the City doubles championship last Thursday.

By winning the City League (PIAA District 8) championship, that duo qualified for and will play in the PIAA Class AAA doubles tournament next weekend at the Hershey Racquet Club. Garvin and Rubin will play the District 9 doubles champions in the first round Oct. 31.

The same holds true in singles for Jones, who will be going up against some of the top players in the state.

"I just need to stay on my game, make sure I'm moving my feet and stay positive," Jones said.

The Dragons went undefeated in City League matches, having won every match by a 5-0 score, including the victory against Perry in the City title match Oct. 2. They also beat Ellis School out of the WPIAL but lost twice to Oakland Catholic.

Allderdice lost to Altoona, 3-1, in the first round of the PIAA team tournament Tuesday, ending the Dragons' season.

In the regular team lineup, Rubin, a junior, plays third singles. Senior Gilli Mizrahi and freshman Melanie Levine are at first doubles and seniors Jenn Valdivia and Mirian Shiffman second doubles.