Jamison and Lila Hershman clinch Port Washington's first girls tennis title since 2022
Port Washington wins the Nassau girls tennis large schools team championship on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Old Westbury. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
On Tuesday night, Port Washington girls tennis coach Shane Helfner gifted each of his athletes a pen. His message?
“The whole point was to try and change the narrative,” Helfner said. “We were going to take that pen today and write our own script.”
And the point got across, because Port Washington did just that. For the first time since 2022, the No. 2 Vikings defeated top-seeded Syosset, 4-3, to earn a Nassau large school championship at Wheatley on Wednesday.
It came all the way down to fourth doubles, where twins Jamison and Lila Hershman defeated Emily Zhang and Siya Mehta, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to clinch the title.
“I was telling myself that it’s the same as any other point,” Jamison said. “I just had to stay calm, spin it in and set up [Lila] at the net. I faulted my first serve, so I was really scared, but I just told myself that it’s OK and I have to trust my training, so I just went for it.”
Port Washington will next face the winner of No. 4 Commack/No. 2 Floyd in the Long Island championship at noon Saturday at Shoreham-Wading River.
Lila Hershman said after dropping the second set, she and Jamison were quick to flip the switch — and the pair’s high-energy play paid off.
“We were trying to keep our momentum going,” Lila said. “We tried to keep ourselves breathing and composed and very zen. I think we came out in that last set with a lot of energy, a lot of hype and our coach just told us to be as aggressive as we can at the net.”
On Oct. 15, Cold Spring Harbor earned a title of its own. Kelsey Miller and Juliette Barry clinched the match at third doubles with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Sidney Shapiro and Erin Wels to earn the 3-2 win over Wheatley.
The pair was trailing, 3-0, in the second set before grinding out the tiebreaker victory, earning Cold Spring Harbor its fourth-straight Nassau small school title. The Seahawks will face Ross in the Long Island championship at 2 p.m. Thursday at Shoreham-Wading River.
Coach Melissa McLees said when it came down to it, she knew Miller and Barry would have what it takes.
“I knew that if we ended up in a situation where they would be the last match, with everybody watching, that they would be able to stay calm,” McLees said. “And they did. They stayed cool, they stayed calm, they were awesome.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
