Port Washington girls tennis wins first state championship

Local News Port Washington girls tennis wins first state championship By Michael J. Lewis … Comments Posted on November 9, 2026 The Port Washington girls tennis team celebrates their first state title, won on Friday at BJKNTC. Provided by Michael Lewis After the screams of sheer delight had died down, after a million photos had been taken and gold medals presented and countless looks of “can you believe this really happened?” exchanged between the Port Washington girls tennis team, their coach was asked a question. Shane Helfner has been the head coach of the Vikings since 2014. He’s also a band teacher at Schreiber High School, his passion for forehands and volleys matched by his enthusiasm for concertos and crescendos. With the first state championship in school history fresh on his mind, Helfner was given this to ponder: If this 2026 state title-winning season for the Vikings was set to music, what would it sound like? “That’s a great question,” he said with a smile. “Let me see. I do love the music from the movie “Rudy:” You’ve got parts which are euphoric and really uplifting, then there are some down moments, which we definitely have had, but then it comes back up triumphantly at the end. “Actually,” he added, taking the question seriously, “it would mostly be a huge brass band, a majestic sound that comes out of their instruments, with the whole band standing up as you play and really getting the crowd into it.” The notes on a most perfect season will linger in the air for a while at the courts on Campus Drive, with a championship celebration and even championship rings possibly in the works (Superintendent of Schools Dr. Guarav Passi said there will “definitely” be some kind of coronation/party at the school soon). Friday afternoon at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, site of where U.S. Open champions have been crowned since 1978, the Port girls made history. In beating Clarence (outside Buffalo) 5-2 in the morning semifinal, then topping Chappaqua’s Horace Greeley by the same score in the late afternoon, the Vikings became the first female team in school history to be best in the state (the boys golf team won a state title in the 1960s, athletics director Nick Schratweiser said). Led by four dominant doubles teams that finished the season winning their past 40 matches in a row, Port dominated both foes on Friday to take home the title. When the clinching point came, it was, fittingly, a pair of seniors that were on the court. First doubles player Christiana Kent’s first serve was returned wide by her Greeley opponent, and as soon as it landed she ran to embrace partner Shoriya Bhat-Bhandarkar at the net, as they finished off a 6-3, 6-2 win. “I was just trying to do what my coaches tell me, and treat it like any other point,” Kent said. “But when it was over… I don’t know how to feel. I’ve never experienced anything like this! It’s so amazing and I want to savor every moment.” “We’ve been partners for three years, and I know her so well,” said Bhat-Bhandarkar, one of the team’s trio of senior captains. “And once we sort of knew it was going to come down to us, there’s no better way than to do this together.” Port Washington (18-3) had been this far before, losing to Scarsdale, 7-0, in the state title match in 2022. Two players, Kent and fellow senior Evie Loewy, were on that team. “In 2022, Scarsdale was so, so good, and I knew that was going to be a very tough match for us to win,” Helfner said. “This time, with our experience and what we’ve been through, I knew we’d have a really good chance.” To get here to the state, Port Washington had to slay their longtime nemesis, Syosset, in the county finals, and the Vikings squeaked out a 4-3 win to grab their first county crown since 2022. After a 6-1 win over Scarsdale in the regional final, the Vikings came into Friday’s semis against Clarence, the Section VI champ located about 20 miles from Buffalo, brimming with confidence. The four Port Washington doubles teams took care of business quickly and easily in leading the Vikings to a 5-2 semifinals win. In the championship, it was again a four-doubles sweep, as joining Bhat-Bhandarkar and Kent in the winner’s circle were Loewy and Ruby Siskind at No. 2 doubles (6-3, 6-2), Layna Koutsoyiannis and Peri Cooper (6-1, 6-0) and the Hershman twins, Jamison and Lila (6-1, 6-1). They were helped by Friday’s singles star, No. 3 singles standout Iris Kim, who served up a double bagel in the finals and lost just two games across two matches Friday. “That was amazing by her, such a boost for us especially in the final,” Helfner said. And of course the season-long strong play of first singles player Michaela Lin and No. 2 Vanessa Wang, both 8th graders, brought the Vikings this far. “The Clarence coach told me after the match, he said, ‘That’s the deepest high school tennis team I’ve ever seen,’” Helfner said. For the Port seniors like Loewy and Kent, who were on the 2022 team, finishing their careers like this was the perfect capper. “When we lost (in ’22), we were disappointed but knew there were other chances to come,” Loewy said. “We knew today was our last match no matter what happened. And to see our team get rebuilt from the ground up, and how much this means to us and to our school, it just is so amazing.” About the Author All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines . Schneps Media does not endorse the views shared by readers in our comment sections.