Dulles junior Audrey Wooland is an emotional tennis player. She shows her signs of frustration on the court with the occasional yell or look of disdain.

But don’t let that fool you. She still is cool as a cucumber when she has to be.

Wooland stayed calm under pressure and won the girls singles title at the Region III-5A tournament Wednesday at Deer Park. She beat top-seeded Kourtney Howell of Cypress Woods 6-2, 6-3 to qualify for the state tournament for the first time.

“In my semifinal match, I was really nervous,” Wooland said. “I came out cold. And in the final, I just showed that I really wanted it and left it all on the court.”

Wooland looked calm and in control in the championship match, but struggled with her play and composure in the semifinal match against Cinco Ranch’s Paige Rachel. Rachel won the first set 6-1, and was leading in the second set before Wooland came back to win the second set 7-5 and the third set 6-2.

“I felt like I was more in control,” Wooland said. “I felt like if I lost my temper or got down on myself, I’d just lose it. So I kept a positive attitude.

“I’m glad I made it (to state) this year because I really wanted it.”

Rachel has one last opportunity to reach state. She has to beat Howell at 3:30 p.m. today in the second-place match. She beat Maya Zein of Hightower in a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-3 match to force a playback match. Howell also had a tough match against Zein, beating her 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the semifinals.

In doubles, Katy Taylor’s Audrey Tompkins and Alex Henry looked unstoppable in the tournament, winning with scores of 6-1, 6-0 through the semifinals. They did drop the first set against the Stratford team of Carlene Leyden and Monica Pieratt in the championship match, but the Mustangs bounced back to form and won 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 to earn a berth to state.

“They had one loose set, and they dominated that match. They had just a little bit of nerves,” Taylor head coach Kirk Kniffen said. “They haven’t been pushed until that match, so it took that one set for them to raise their level of play.”

Tompkins and Henry look to be one of the favorites to win a state title in Austin on May 5-6, but he also expects the competition to be tougher.

“I think we’re the favorite, but just like in regionals, it’s any man’s game,” Kniffen said. “It’s who can compete, not just about the talent.”

Leyden and Pieratt also qualified for state when they beat the Cinco Ranch team of Alexa Li and Stephanie Li in the semifinals 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

In mixed doubles, top seeds Amanda DiCarlo and Brandon Farine of Clear Lake battled back from a 4-2 deficit in the third set to beat the Katy Taylor team of Neil Schneider and Mia Matuszak 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to win the regional title and a berth to state.

“We started to go down two, but we fought back and it was awesome,” Farine said.

Schneider and Matuszak had better luck against another Clear Lake team, as they beat Raj Jana and Adriana Ocon 6-4, 6-3 in the semis that allowed them to qualify for state. Jana and Ocon beat the Memorial team of Jamie Krasnov and Sarah Gillespie 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) for third place.

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