Westhampton repeats as Suffolk girls tennis champion
Westhampton's Julia Stabile returns the volley in the tiebreaking match against Islip's Maya Levy during the Suffolk girls tennis team championships on Monday at Shoreham-Wading River. Credit: George A. Faella
They knew it wouldn’t be easy.
A year ago the Westhampton girls tennis team overwhelmed all comers with its depth on the way to a Long Island title.
As defending champions and the top seed they knew they’d be taking every team’s best shot, and No. 3 Islip (16-2) came at them with haymakers Monday in the Suffolk final at Shoreham-Wading River.
But the Hurricanes weathered the storm, as eighth-grader Julia Stabile rallied to win a marathon match over Maya Levy at fourth singles that lasted almost three hours, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, to clinch a 4-3 win and Westhampton’s second straight title.
“I knew that I just had to stay calm and cool in order to win because it was all on me to help our team take that next step,” Stabile said. “I just tried to play the same way and stay calm.”
Westhampton (18-0) swept all four singles matches, getting straight-set wins from Rose Hayes, Katelyn Stabile and Rose Peruso at first through third.
“It’s my little sister so I always want to see her win no matter what,” Katelyn Stabile said. “I thought she played great. I’ve never seen her play a better match in her life.”
After a long first set both players became the focus of attention for all the other competitors and fans in attendance as they knew the match would decide a champion.
“She’s never played a three-setter in her life and she was definitely frazzled after the first set because she’s not used to this,” Westhampton coach John Czartosieski said. “Her matches have gone relatively easy all season long. We encouraged her to keep the ball in play longer, you can push, but just keep it in longer than she can and she was able to do that.”
Both players opted for a conservative style, hoping to outlast her opponent and not make any mistakes. It led to some rallies that lasted more than 50 shots.
“For an eighth-grader to show such resolve is incredible,” Czartosieski said.
Westhampton moves on to play Port Washington in the Long Island championship Tuesday at the Hamlet Club in Commack.
“This year was tough because everyone expected a lot from us,” Katelyn Stabile said. “We knew we had to give it our all. We were the No. 1 seed so we just had to win.”
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
