Westhampton Beach's Stabile, Buchen Secure Division IV Doubles Title

Julia Stabile and Matilda Buchen are standout singles players, but they’re even better together.

The Westhampton Beach tennis stars demonstrated that on Monday, as they teamed up to take down William Floyd’s Hailey O’Connor and Jackie Sutherland, 6-2, 6-1, to earn the Division IV doubles title.

With the win, the duo earns a spot in the Suffolk County tournament — along with the other top four doubles and top eight singles players — which begins Friday, October 21, at Smithtown East High School.

“We’ve been practicing really hard every single day, and I think we deserved this,” Buchen said. “There’s nothing better than playing with your best friend.”

What made the result that much more impressive was that Buchen earned the top spot on the singles side of the tournament last year, and Stabile won the doubles crown, competing then with her older sister, Katelyn.

“I’m really proud of the way they played,” head coach Matt Reed said. “Winning in doubles really shows Matilda’s versatility, but also with Julia, to win with two different partners is not easy. And any time you beat a William Floyd doubles team, you know you’ve done something well, because coach [Dave] Pia does a great job with his doubles teams.”

The finals match started out much closer than the final score makes it appear, with a lot of breaks in the Hurricane pair’s serve, but they quickly found their rhythm and took off.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match because our opponents came out super strong — they’re really good players — so it was a competitive match. But because we get along so well, we work even better together,” Stabile said. “It’s fun every match.”

The junior said what helped the duo most was their communication, which comes naturally, since they’re so close.

“The adjustment to playing together wasn’t as difficult as we thought it was going to be, because we’re basically the same person,” she said, laughing.

After dropping the first set, O’Connor and Sutherland switched up their game, both coming to the net against strong baseline opponents, but Stabile and Buchen eventually adjusted to that, too.

“Julia threw up a lot of lobs, and that helped a lot,” said Buchen.

Stabile’s serves were also big late, especially in deuce and 40-30 situations.

“Her serve is insane — it’s always insane. It’s so fast,” Buchen said. “She plays a perfect game.”

When the match grew close, the sophomore said the pair just kept reminding each other of how far they’d come. The girls dropped just six games across the tournament. They shut down Southold’s Angelly Avilla and Connie Benson, 6-0, 6-0, before taking out William Floyd’s Drew Weigand and Nadia Da Gama Paes, 6-1, 6-0. They had to oust teammates Anna and Kylie Way, beating them, 6-1, 6-1, to make it to the semifinals, where they blanked William Floyd’s Gianna Martin and Lydia Van Cott, 6-0, 6-0.

“They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses — though there really aren’t any weaknesses in their game — and it’s just great to see them doing well and having a lot of fun out there,” Reed said of Stabile and Buchen. “They’re doing good things, and hopefully they can keep it rolling.”

Westhampton Beach’s doubles teams of senior Shannon Killoran and seventh-grader Ava Borruso and junior Taylor Lagattolla and sophomore Nikki Lee also competed, with both making it out of the first round. Lagattolla and Lee topped Center Moriches’s Climele Browne and Schaeffer, 6-4, 6-5, before falling to Martin and Van Cott, 6-0, 6-0. Killoran and Borruso took down Hampton Bays’s Natalie Moranchel and Sarah Reh, 6-1, 6-0, and Shoreham-Wading River’s Kristen Tortora and Hannah Rafuse, 6-2, 6-3, before being taken out by Martin and Van Cott.

On the singles side, junior Melina Pinonzek, who entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed, fell to William Floyd’s Adrianna Filippelli in a close consolation final — 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 4-6 — to finish sixth.

“It was definitely very challenging, but in a good way,” Pinonzek said. “Adrianna is an amazing player. It was a long match, and she definitely deserved to win. We both fought hard.”

The two-and-a-half-hour contest was the last one remaining in the tournament, so she said she was fueled by her coach and teammates to stay in the final set.

“It’s one of those matches where both players really deserve to win,” Reed said. “She obviously didn’t come out on the side we wanted her to, but she played great, and I’m proud of her.”

What he was impressed with most was her effort, especially making the jump from playing No. 3 doubles last year to No. 3 singles this season. Pinonzek was dancing up and down and all across the court to get to each ball. Her consistency was key.

“Her effort, as always, was 100 percent,” Reed said. “It’s never a doubt — whether it’s a practice or a match, she’s always giving it everything she has.”

Teammate Julia Greiner, a senior, had a tough draw facing the No. 1 seed out of Ross, Emmy Winter, in the opening round, falling 6-0, 6-1. Hampton Bays’s Iris Fernandez lost to Southold’s Nyla Olsen, 6-2, 6-0. Westhampton Beach eighth-grader Zoë Grellet-Aumont knocked out Center Moriches’s Savanna Reyes in the first round, 6-0, 6-0, before being eliminated by Shoreham-Wading River’s Liza Undrus, 6-3, 6-4.

Pinonzek qualified for the county tournament her first time competing in the singles draw.

“I’m happy to be in this position. I think I’ve come a long way,” Pinonzek said, adding she’s excited and confident heading into counties. “I think I played really well across the tournament — even the girls I didn’t beat, I challenged them.”