Westhampton Beach's Julia Stabile, Matilda Buchen Are State Champions

The doubles team of Julia Stabile and Matilda Buchen will go down as one of the greatest tennis duos in Westhampton Beach history. And the pair brought home the hardware to prove it this weekend, walking away with the first state championship title a Hurricanes pair has received in 43 years.

“It feels so surreal,” said Stabile, a senior and five-year varsity starter who has made an appearance in the state tournament three straight seasons. “I never thought that we would make it this far since the girls at states are unbelievable tennis players — everyone is so skilled — but I am so happy that I got to go through this moment and do it with my best friend.”

She and Buchen, a junior, outshined the No. 1-seeded Scarsdale team of Kay Cottrell and Emma Ha, winning, 6-2, 6-3, on Saturday at Central Park Schenectady. While the set scores make it appear like a near-breeze for the Westhampton Beach duo, which didn’t drop a set the entire tournament, it wasn’t as straightforward as the score lines appear, with many of the games going to deuce.

“Matilda and Julia were able to remain so tough and bold in those game-deciding points every single time. It was awesome to watch,” said head coach Matt Reed. “Taking down the No. 1 seed is no easy feat, but they brought their tennis to a new level — the kind needed to win. Champions play their best when they have to.”

The Hurricanes didn’t have many opportunities to scout their opponents, since they were competing at the same time across the tournament, but Buchen said they were able to see a couple of points, and noticed that their soon-to-be challengers were walls at the net and had a lot of power and consistency.

“We went into our match with the same attitude we’ve had with any other match. We tried to stick to our style and hoped that it worked,” said Buchen, a four-year starter. “Julia and I tried to keep the ball away from the middle, knowing that our opponents were very solid at the net, and we tried to mix up our shots with a lot of angles and slices, which I feel helped immensely.”

Stabile, who with her partner both stand at roughly 5 feet 3 inches tall, also had a lot of holds while serving, including one when Westhampton Beach was down, 0-30, helping the duo charge back to win that game. Ha and Cottrell were 24-0 this season before the doubles final.

“Matilda and Julia can match the power of their opponents, even when the opponent is about six inches taller, like in the final,” Reed said. “They were able to get back almost every big serve they hit, could match their power on the ground, volleyed better and could come up with crafty angled shots to take them off their game and play right into their hands.”

Stabile said the bond that has formed between the two over the last few seasons has also been a major advantage. Their doubles record this season is now 19-0, including wins in the division, county and state tournaments.

“We have a great bond off that court that helps a lot with our chemistry, communication and movement on the court,” Stabile said. “And our willingness to never give up and always give it our best helps us to overcome any challenge we are faced with.”

That showed throughout the entire tournament. Buchen and Stabile blanked Northeastern Clinton’s Brynn Hite and Sydney Lemieux, 6-0, 6-0, in the opening round, took down Saratoga Springs’ Clare Dooley and Addison Jones, 6-2, 6-2, in the Round of 16, and bested Amherst Central’s Ada Radomski and Anna Wheat, 6-0, 6-2, in the quarterfinals to make it further than either of them had gone before.

And that was the goal the girls originally sought to achieve, but they did that and then some, realizing they had what it takes to go all the way when they outlasted Manhasset’s sister pairing of Andrea and Evangelina Vases, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).

“The semifinal was an absolute battle of tennis abilities, but was also very mental,” Reed said. “The doubles team from Manhasset was very good, and not easy to play against, so it was great for us to come through that one victorious and in straight sets. They kept elevating their game with each match, which is what you have to do in order to win a tournament of this magnitude.”

Stabile, who reached the state tournament last year with Buchen, and the year prior with her older sister, Katelyn — losing both times to a Byram Hills team that ended up state champions in 2022 — said her head coach has also been crucial to her doubles team’s success.

“Coach Reed has supported us every step of the way, and is just an impeccable coach,” the senior said. “He is always putting in the extra work, and that shows his dedication. He makes sure that he brings out the best level of tennis in whoever he is coaching. A lesson that he has taught me is to keep fighting no matter what. When given a challenge, there is always a solution.”

“It is clear to Julia and I that we could not have gone as far as we did without him,” Buchen added. “Coach Reed puts his entire heart and soul into this. He is a workaholic, and takes it very seriously. He pushes us to our limits and makes us work hard. It’s not just a job for him, it is clearly a passion. He loves the sport and he loves being our coach. He also has a lot of faith in us, convinced that we could win this.”

But their teacher said credit goes to the duo for being so coachable. They also each boast their own strengths that together make them a force. The foundation for their complete game is strong first serves, consistent baseline returns and varying abilities at the net, which helped them take home the first title since Kelly Federico and Brenda Kacke were crowned doubles champions in 1980, according to USTA records.

“They want the constant feedback of how they’re playing — what they should be doing or not doing — and because of how good they are, I’m able to give them strategies and ideas that really only they could pull off,” Reed said. “They were able to implement those strategies, neutralize their opponents’ strengths and consistently exploit their weaknesses.”

Stabile started her high school career clinching Westhampton Beach’s second-straight Suffolk County championship. As an eighth-grader, she found herself winning a three-set match that lasted over three hours to help the Hurricanes edge rival Half Hollow Hills East, 4-3. The team had won 17 straight matches that season before falling to Port Washington in the Long Island title game. After a canceled 2020 season, she came back to help the team across a 14-2 campaign that ended on the losing side of a 4-3 match to Hills East in the county final. That season, she and her sister won the Division IV and Suffolk County championships to earn her first state berth, where the Stabiles made it through the first round. With Buchen last season, the pair also claimed both crowns before making it to the state quarterfinals, finishing the tournament in seventh. This season, they repeated as Division IV and Suffolk County tournament winners before securing that elusive state title.

“Julia’s resume speaks for itself,” Reed said. “Having Julia on the team is such a tone-setter — 100 percent effort all the time, and Matilda is the same way. They have a pure love of the game with such a diversified skillset to pretty much be able to do anything on the court. They have power, finesse and mental fortitude. Having these two girls on the team for my first three years as head coach of this program has been a blessing, and something I’ve cherished every day since taking over.”

Buchen said she’s honored not only to have met Stabile, competing and learning with her at SPORTIME Quogue from a young age, but being able to win it all with her closest ally.

“We hit it off immediately, and I’m so lucky to have met her,” the junior said. “I’m still in disbelief that this happened, but in the best way possible. This is a feeling that is very difficult to describe, but coming so far with Julia is more than I could ever ask for. It means so much to me. I am so thrilled and I wish we could keep going.”

Stabile said she wouldn’t want to end her high school career any other way.

“I am so proud of Matilda and I. This just feels unbelievable,” the senior said. “We put in a lot of hard work during and after the season, and it just goes to show that hard work really does pay off. Tennis has given me a lifelong friend and someone who I know I can always count on. I am so thankful that we get to experience this together, and I am glad that we finished on such a high note.”