Westhampton Beach’s Buchen & Stabile Repeat As Suffolk Doubles Champions
For the second straight year, Matilda Buchen & Julia Stabile are the Suffolk County Doubles Champions.
The Westhampton Beach duo defended their title on Sunday by defeating the Bayport-Blue Point sister pairing of Emilia & Evie Romano 6-1, 7-5 at Eastern Athletic Club in Blue Point.
“They are a really solid team, but Matilda and I were able to keep our momentum going, and boost each other up when we were down, especially in those tough points,” said Stabile. “It got really competitive in that second set, but we made sure to stay focused, go point-by-point and just play our game.”
After controlling play in the first set, Buchen & Stabile were tested by the Romanos in the second set. But the pair made sure to get back to being aggressive in order to close out the match in straight sets.
“They were consistent so we tried to be aggressive, and poached when we needed to,” said Buchen. “The courts here indoors play pretty fast compared to outside, so we used that to our advantage and played aggressively.”
A key reason for their success is the chemistry between the two. Buchen & Stabile are close off the court, and use that to their benefit when times get tough on court.
“When one is down, the other one is there for them. They are great friends off the court which helps them on it,” said Westhampton Beach head coach Matt Reed. “The second set got tight, but they raised their level when they needed to. They have an extra gear they can get to that a lot of teams can’t match.”
The duo will now look to continue that momentum into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Individual Championships which run from Thursday, October 26 through Saturday, October 28 at Sportime Schenectady. Joining them there will be the Romanos from Bayport-Blue Point as well as Meredith Albertelli & Kylie Person of Sayville, who defeated Aya Deckman & Josie Rudloff in the third-place match.
