Anjali Raza and Brielle Marcus win deciding doubles match to give Hills East Suffolk title

All eyes were fixated on Court 6, where the championship-deciding third doubles match was heading to a third set.

The Half Hollow Hills East tandem of Anjali Raza and Brielle Marcus had just dropped a close second set to Westhampton’s Ana-maria Bichinashvili and Taylor Lagattolla.

“Right before the last set, our coach reminded us that it’s a new start and he said, ‘Just go in and dominate,’ ” Marcus said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”

Raza and Marcus defeated Bichinashvili and Lagattolla, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, to propel top-seeded Hills East to a 4-3 win over No. 2 Westhampton in the Suffolk large schools girls tennis championship at Eastern Athletic Club in Bayport on Monday.

The victory marked Hills East’s 19th county title and second in the last three years. Westhampton finished its season with a 16-2 record.

“From top to bottom, they all earned this,” coach Steve Ferrantello said. “Watching our entire team supporting Brielle and Anjali at the end, that’s what it’s all about.”

Hills East fell to Westhampton, 5-2, on Sept. 13 for its only loss of the season. But Ferrantello said his team has improved greatly since then.

“It was stressful but exhilarating at the same time,” said Marcus. “Knowing that we had that support and hearing our teammates cheer really encouraged us.”

After taking a 3-2 lead in the third set, Marcus and Raza went up 40-0 in the next game. Raza's ensuing serve perfectly split the Westhampton duo for an ace and a 4-2 lead.

“The momentum was insane,” Raza said. “After every point that we won, the energy just kept building and building until the last point.”

Perhaps the match of the final came at first doubles, as sophomores Sami Heyman and Emma Wilck defeated Julia Stabile and Kylie Way, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7).

Before almost every serve, Heyman would say, “C’mon Emma, right here,” to make sure her and her partner kept up their intensity.

“Every point was so important,” Wilck said. “Even if we lost a point, we always came back and we kept our energy up.”

Heyman and Wilck knew they were in for a challenge facing Stabile, who won a title with Matilda Buchen at the state singles and doubles tournament in Schenectady on Saturday.

“We were confident and we came into that match saying that if we played our game, we would be safe,” Heyman said.

All four players were exceptional when they played at the net. Heyman made a crucial play in the second set tiebreaker, as a long rally between Wilck and Way ended with Heyman spiking an unreturnable ball to even the score at 3-3.

“I know when Emma gets a backhand, she’s hitting it deep in the corner, so I know when I can move over and when I need to step in,” Heyman said. “I know if she’s hitting it in the corner, that ball is coming to me and I’m ready for it. Emma knows the same thing and that’s why we play so well together.”

The Hills East duo later trailed 6-5, but rallied to put the match away.

“The break to make it 6-6 was so important,” Wilck said. “Keeping it from going to a third set was huge.”

Buchen played first singles on Monday and defeated Angie Malik, 6-1, 6-2.

Christina Zhao and Remy Buffa of Hills East defeated Westhampton's Zoe Grellet-Aumont and Shannon Killoran, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, at second doubles and Jayden Seff and Kayla Grochow of Hill East earned a 6-2, 6-3, victory over Westhampton's Ana Way and Diana Elliott at fourth doubles.

Hills East (16-1) will look to capture its first Long Island title against the winner of Garden City/Syosset in a match that is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at Hofstra. The Nassau championship was scheduled to be played Monday afternoon, but was postponed due to weather and will be played Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. at Hofstra.