Westhampton's Stabile Sisters Win Division IV Doubles Title, Rose Hayes Earns Fourth Straight Singles Crown

Early in the season, singles standouts Katelyn Stabile and her younger sister Julia approached Westhampton Beach tennis team head coach John Czartosieski about becoming a doubles duo. As it turns out, he already had that idea in mind, and the switch was made.

It seems to have worked out well for the sisters, as they scored their first Division IV title at Shoreham-Wading River High School Tuesday, with a 7-5, 6-0 win over East Hampton’s No. 1-seeded Juliana Barahona and Sandrine Becht.

The Stabile sisters, along with Barahona and Becht, earned automatic bids to the Suffolk County individual tournament, which was set to begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 22, at the high school in Shoreham.

“I haven’t even processed this yet. It’s wild,” said Katelyn, a junior. “I wanted to play with my sister because she’s my best friend. We just click.”

Both she and Julia, a freshman, were strong at the baseline thanks to their time at singles, with Katelyn at the No. 2 spot for the past two seasons and Julia joining the lineup at the No. 4 spot in 2019. The only thing that worried Katelyn about doubles was the serves.

“You’re supposed to be standing in a different spot, but I’m more comfortable at the singles spot,” she said, laughing. “But we pushed through. We rallied. We were really solid with the groundstrokes. We just supported each other.”

Being sisters and so close in age, that part was easy. But what the junior said took them to another level was their ability to communicate, execute their game plan and play to each other’s strengths.

“We know how each other plays, so we blend pretty well,” Katelyn said. “We can almost read each other’s minds.”

Julia said she appreciated all the encouragement from her older sister, especially when they fell behind, 5-4, in the first, after starting the set up 3-0.

“We were a little bit nervous, but we knew we were strong together, and leaned on that,” the freshman said. “If we were down, we stayed calm, cool and collected and just moved onto the next point. We know when to call the ball and how to move together. It worked out well.”

While the duo were the underdogs as the No. 2 seed heading into the tournament, Czartosieski said the girls would rather it be that way.

“Mentally, there was less pressure. But wow — they played fantastic,” he said. “East Hampton’s doubles team is two amazing players. It was very close. The girls were just a little steadier in the first set, and that’s what helped us. I thought, overall, the girls played very clean. There weren’t a lot of errors, they kept the ball in-bounds, and when they had opportunities to be offensive and attack, they really took them.”

It helped the sisters come away with a bunch of winners and unforced errors, but the East Hampton singles players from Pierson were also new to the doubles arena, and recognized what they were up against.

“We knew that both players had a strong baseline game, so we would have to use our net game to our advantage,” said Becht, a junior. “Unfortunately, we made silly mistakes that cost us the game, but our comeback in the first set shows that we are a force and can play great tennis.”

Her senior counterpart, who credited her coach for the success, said across the tournament she and her partner tried to relax and remain confident in their skills.

“We are really grateful for [Kevin McConville]. This was all because he believed in us and worked as hard as we did to help us make it to the finals,” said Barahona, who earned points with her hard serves and at the net with some solid poaching. “It’s just amazing that we made it to the finals in my last year of high school tennis. I feel really, really happy, because I haven’t made it this far. We’ll work hard to get to where we need to be later this week.”

Julia Stabile said she’s confident in what she and her sister can do at counties.

“Our goal was to win together before she graduates, so this is exciting,” the freshman said. “We have really good chemistry when we play together, and these girls we faced are really good, so we should be fine from here.”

Westhampton Beach junior Rose Hayes, on the other hand, can’t go any further than she already has, but maintained her prowess with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of teammate Matilda Buchen for her already fourth straight division title.

“There’s Rose, and then there’s everyone else,” Czartosieski said. “I’m thrilled for her. She deserves it. She puts so much time and effort into her game and nobody else should win it but Rose.”

The singles star has had an unlucky streak, though, going against Hurricanes teammates all three years she’s played for Westhampton. She won her first championship with McGann-Mercy as an eighth-grader, and claimed her previous two titles with wins over teammate Katelyn Stabile.

“It’s tough going up against a teammate. You’re on the bus with them, you warm up with them, you go to school together. It’s a weird feeling,” Hayes said. “But every year, it’s also a bit of a relief, because everyone is kind of out to get you.”

The junior never faltered in a rally, was quick to reset at the baseline during volleys and scored game-winners with some strong aces — but that didn’t scare her eighth-grade competition.

“I wasn’t nervous. I just wanted to have fun and play well,” Buchen said. “I’m proud of myself. I think I played pretty well across this tournament.”

While her forehand was on, her serve wasn’t as strong Tuesday. Either way, she can check making it to the Suffolk County tournament off this year’s to-do list.

“This was my goal,” Buchen said. “So if I lose, I’m fine with it.”

Hayes said her teammate is nothing but a winner for Westhampton, and added that it’s nice to see strong, young players moving up the ranks.

“The kids coming up are consistently getting better,” the junior said. “I think she’s a really good player, and she’s certainly mature. I think she’s going to do really well the rest of her Westhampton career.”

Hayes now sets her sights on earning her third-straight Suffolk County crown, and is looking forward to going up against a lot of familiar faces. The top six singles players and top four doubles teams from the division earned a berth in the tournament.

“You never want to come up short, but it’s always hard to meet your expectations. You want to do better each year,” Hayes said. “No matter what happens, I’m just happy to have had a high school season this year.”