Newsday's All-Long Island girls tennis team 2025

First Team

Singles

Newsday Player of the Year: Stephanie Marcheret, Syosset, Sr.

There was a time when Marcheret thought tennis wasn’t for her. She reluctantly showed up to Syosset’s varsity tryouts in eighth grade.

Now, she can’t imagine her life without it.

“That tryout brought back my love for tennis, and now here I am,” Marcheret said. “Since then, everything I’ve done tennis-wise has been on my own accord. I work hard because I really want to, and I’m proud of that.”

Since making the varsity squad that season, Marcheret has helped lead her team to four Nassau championships, four Long Island championships and Syosset’s first state title in her five-year career.

Coach Shai Fisher said not only does Marcheret strive to be better every day, but she inspires her teammates to do the same.

“The whole team looks up to her and wants to emulate her career. They want to emulate her as a person,” Fisher said. “That goes a long way into helping change a program which is always pretty successful. She took a good program and brought it to the next level, which isn’t an easy thing.”

Marcheret went 25-2 in singles this season and earned her first Nassau individual singles title before finishing third in the state.

Suffolk Player of the Year: Lily Castka, Bayport-Blue Point, Jr.

Castka knows what it means to be under pressure. In fact, it seems to be where she thrives.

The junior helped lead Bayport-Blue Point to its first state title this season. It was a historic feat, but the highlight of Castka’s season actually came a few weeks earlier.

On Oct. 25, Castka was down one set and trailing 0-5 in the second during the deciding match of the Suffolk finals. Despite being on the doorstep of defeat, she rallied back to win, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5, and clinch the Phantoms' fifth straight county title.

“That has been my favorite memory of my career,” Castka said. “I just kept telling myself to just get one game, get one game, and then suddenly I was stacking them. The celebration and the look on everyone’s faces when I came back and won — it was just unreal.”

Castka earned the Suffolk individual singles title and posted a final record of 23-1, with her only loss coming in the state tournament.

“I have never seen a player put in more work than Lily has,” coach John Selvaggio said. “She deserves every second of this.”

Gabrielle Villegas, Great Neck South, 8th

The eighth grader is one of Long Island’s most impressive players, rallying all the way to the individual state championship match and ultimately finishing second.

Doubles

Lillie Weiss (Fr.) and Lola Dangin (So.), Ross School

The pair finished third in the state, dropping only one match all season to the eventual state champions. Weiss and Dangin posted a final record of 20-1.

Evie Loewy (Jr.) and Brianna Lewis (Soph.), Port Washington

The pair made a run into the state tournament and ultimately finished in fifth place.

Coach of the Year: Shai Fisher, Syosset

After falling just short in the state tournament for the past three years, Fisher led Syosset to its first large school state title in program history. Syosset also captured its third-straight Long Island title. Fisher’s team boasted a final record of 22-1.