ERIE — Emily Gordon was down a set and her opponent, Mercyhurst Prep senior and defending District 10 Class AA girls tennis champion Lauren Petrella, was in complete control of the match and the pace.

Then Gordon, a Grove City High freshman, began imposing her will.

What resulted was a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Petrella for a district championship.

Gordon becomes the first Mercer County player to win a girls tennis title since Alison Mudrey of Hickory in 2003.

Gordon was 4 at the time.

“It's a great honor,” Gordon said. “It was just amazing. Going in there, I knew what a great player and what an awesome athlete Lauren is. I feel like having the whole county behind me helped me win today.”

Gordon, though, started slowly — in large part because Petrella was playing slowly.

“That first set, Petrella controlled the pace,” said Grove City girls tennis coach Jared Henshaw. “She slowed things down so much, Emily had almost too much time to think and she made a lot of unforced errors.”

Between sets, Henshaw and Gordon discussed speeding things up.

It worked. With a sharp serve, Gordon won the second set and then cruised through the third for the title.

“It was a great match — it lasted nearly two hours,” Henshaw said. “The key was Emily got into a rhythm and changed the pace.”

Gordon will now play in the PIAA Girls Tennis Championships, which will begin Oct. 31 at the Hershey Racquet Club.

Gordon said another key to her win was staying calm.

“If I would have lost it after that first set and gotten mad, I never would have won,” Gordon said.

Gordon kept her perfect season alive — she hasn't lost a match in her high school career.

“It's a little shocking to me,” she said. “Being a freshman and playing against older players, I didn't expect to be undefeated. But I'm used to playing against all these older people.”

That perfect run will be put to the test at the end of the month. But Gordon said she is ready for the challenge.

“I'm really excited to go to states,” Gordon said. “I'm going to enjoy that experience and hope to play as well as I can.”